Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Siem: I’ve made right decision to come here
REMARKABLE as it may seem, Marcel Siem seriously thought about turning down a place in the Open Championship to focus on the Challenge Tour.
Two rounds of 67 later, though, the 41-year-old German understandably felt he had made the right decision to swap the Euram Bank Open in Austria for a first major start since 2015 after playing himself into contention at Royal St George’s.
Siem reached a career-high of 48th in the world in 2013 and is a fourtime winner on the European Tour, but lost his card in 2019 shortly after being penalised ten shots in the French Open. Incorrectly thinking that preferred lies were in operation, Siem lifted, cleaned and replaced his ball five times on the fairway in his first round before discovering his error and walking off at the turn.
As he began life on the second-tier Challenge Tour in December that year, Siem was 848th in the world and contemplating retiring, but decided to carry on and returned to the winner’s circle for the first time since 2014 in last week’s Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge.
The victory brought with it a place in the Open and lifted Siem to third on the money list, with the top 20 at the end of the season gaining a coveted European Tour card.
“I saw I was third on the rankings but I was still thinking ‘Am I ready for the big stage?”’ Siem said. “I want to get my card back first and foremost. I heard that ten per cent of the Open prize money goes towards the Challenge Tour rankings, so then it was a no-brainer to come. It’s the best event in the world. I’m glad I’m here. I’ve made the right decision.
“I have to stay humble. I lost my card, I’m coming from nowhere and I will definitely try my best to compete, but I can’t give any predictions. I will definitely try to play my best and stay calm and hopefully I will be up on the leaderboard somewhere.”
Siem finished 12th in the US Open in 2014 and won his last European Tour event in November that year, but changing his swing in an attempt to improve proved disastrous.
“It’s been tough the last few years,” he added. “Sponsors have all gone, you have a certain lifestyle that you’re used to and that goes. You can’t play the big events any more, there’s no prize money coming in but the costs are still there.
“In 2014 I changed coaches. I tried a bit of Dustin Johnson-style over the wrist and that screwed everything up. I strained my shoulder and I’m still fighting with it.”
South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen continues to lead the way, with Americans Colin Morikawa and Jordan Spieth leading the chasing pack.