DP World Tour : Porsche European Tournament Leaderboard
Home favourite Marcel Siem revealed how important the Porsche European Open is to him but vowed to remain relaxed after getting off to a strong start at Green Eagle Golf Courses on Thursday.
The 42-year-old has been in fine form during the 2023 campaign, winning his fifth DP World Tour title at the Hero Indian Open in February.
The German continued to impress on his return to home soil as he opened with a two-under-par 71 which featured four birdies and two bogeys.
Despite stressing what the tournament means to him, Siem insisted he will stay patient over the next three rounds.
He said: "I wish all the Germans the best. It would be very important if any German is up there, so I’m not fighting against any this week - just one up there would be great.
"It’s a very important tournament to me.
"I’m playing well at the moment. I just have to get four rounds together like I did in India and then happy days.
"I’m just going to stay calm, relaxed and wait for my chances this week."
Siem spent his first round in the company of countryman Nick Bachem - the 23-year-old who tasted his first DP World Tour victory at the Jonsson Workwear Open in March.
"We had a lot of fun, even though he had a few bad breaks," added Siem. "He’s a super guy, we were laughing a lot together and it was just nice to see him play under tournament conditions as well.
"It’s good practice for him, playing in front of the crowds. It was good, I enjoyed it."
The lead is shared by another German, Max Kieffer, and Swede Simon Forsstrom who won last month in Belgium, on -4 69 with 16 players within 3 shots and only 18 broke par.
Kieffer had this to say: "It’s been a great day. On the front nine I holed two very long putts and one chip-in from off the green, which really got the round going. That was a great start to the round, those highlights.
"The back nine was more scoreable. Most of the holes are downwind and there are four par fives. I actually played quite well on the back nine but didn’t hole the putts - the speed on long putts wasn’t great, so I left a few out there on the back nine. Overall, I’m quite happy."
The course is playing tough 35 out, 38 in with 3 holes at 600 yards and longer, 6 par 5's.
Bryan Angus
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