German golfer Marcel Siem, who lost eligibility to play on the European Tour last season, made a fine start at the Qatar Open Amateur Championship yesterday.
At the Doha Golf Club, the 39-year-old played well to hit the top of the Pro leaderboard with an 8-under par 64, comprising nine birdies and a bogey on the first day of the championship. England’s Brandon Robinson Thompson was two strokes behind him with six-under.
American Kevin Esteve is third at four-under and another German, Max Schmitt, is fourth at three-under. South African Bryce Easton and Swedish golfer Niklas Lemke are tied for fifth at two-under with four others at the end of the first round.
“It was little windy in the afternoon, but it was calmer in the morning. Overall the conditions were very nice here today,” Siem told Gulf Times.
Siem last playd in Qatar Masters in 2018 and finished joint 28th. “Usually greens are little firmer during the Qatar Masters, but here they were a bit softer. Roughs are also not as high as usual… it played little easier today. So overall it was bit easier.”
Siem disqualified himself from the French Open last October after he assumed that ‘preferred lies rule’ was in place for the opening round. The German lifted, cleaned and placed his ball five times on the front nine at Le Golf National, incurring a two-shot penalty for each infraction and can not retain his Tour card. Prior to the penalty strokes, he had shot one-over 37 across the opening nine holes.
“I am happy with my score. But I don’t know what’s coming. I had a good finish at last few holes. I am happy with the score. But as we all know, this course is always difficult to play and still we have two days to go, so we have to be little careful,” said the four-time European Tour winner Siem, who is aiming to earn back his card.
Siem’s biggest victory came in China at the 2014 BMW Masters, which propelled him to a career-high seventh place finish in the Race to Dubai. He also has a World Cup win on his CV after partnering fellow German Bernhard Langer to glory in Barbados in 2006. Talking about his disqualification and his fight to be back on the tour, he said: “It was a costly mistake. It was hard unfortunately. That was a little too much for me as I disqualified myself.”
This year his best finish in three events on the European Tour has been a tied 49th at the South African Open.
“I am feeling felling more confident with couple of good starts this year. Playing challenge after 18 years is not nice. It’s like when you miss one class in school, you have to go back. I have to go through the season with playing 10-12 challengers or invitation events on the tour. I have to fight through this year and I hope 2021 will be good again,” he said.
France’s Tom Santa, who carded two-under and is joint fifth on the overall leaderboard, is leading the amateur section of the championship.
Qatar’s Ali al-Shahrani carded two-over to finish the day at joint 5th spot, while 2017 runner-up Saleh al-Kaabi was four-over in joint 10th.
German golfer Marcel Siem plays a bunker shot during the first round of the Qatar Open Amateur Championship 2020 at the Doha Golf Club yesterday. PICTURE: Jayaram
