Marcel Siem continued his brilliant run at the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play as he beat Robert Rock on the first play off hole to advance to the semi finals at Golf Resort Bad Griesbach.
The home favourite is 124th in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex but has found his form in spectacular style and is now just two wins from a fifth European Tour title.
Play had been delayed by an hour in the morning after a heavy storm overnight dumped 22 millilitres of rain on the Beckenbauer Course with gusting winds of up to 63 miles per hour bringing down trees and forcing the ninth tee to be moved.
The rain continued to fall throughout the day but the course held up very well thanks to some excellent work from the ground staff.
Englishman Rock was two up as he stood on the 15th tee but Siem made birdies on the 15th and 16th before sealing victory on the 19th with another gain.
The 37 year old will take on Johan Carlsson on Sunday morning after the Swede overcame defending champion Anthony Wall of England on the last.
The other semi final is an all-Spanish affair after Adrian Otaegui recorded a 2 and 1 win over German Alexander Knappe.
His opponent Alejandro Cañizares came through his second play-off match of the day, beating England’s Chris Paisley after 20 holes, following a third round victory over Paul Dunne of Ireland after 21 holes.
Player quotes
Marcel Siem:
“That was by far the toughest match. Especially because, I don’t know how many birdies we made on the back nine together, but it was quite a lot. I was down all day and it was very tiring because you have to fight and dig deep.
“It was a lot of pressure on 18. I thought Rocky was going to hole it, but I got away with it and won.
“I’m learning a lot this week. I think my stroke is getting better and better. The greens are kind of slow and you have to hit them hard. My backswing is still just too short and even though I hit a good putt they just don’t reach.
“I have to take to take it shot by shot again tomorrow. It’s match play and I love that. I love the pressure. Waking up in the morning buzzing already.
“I didn’t sleep a lot every day here because I was kind of nervous and I love that. I love the match play format and I can’t wait to go out there tomorrow and hopefully win.”
Alejandro Canizares:
“This morning it took us 21 holes and this afternoon it took us 20 holes. It’s been a long day but it was a lot of fun. It was tough, both games were really tough, great battles. In the end it dropped my way.
“Whenever I made a good putt for birdie to win the hole the next one or the following one he would make something happen so it was a good battle, a great match.
“I wasn’t thinking about what I did in the past. I was thinking more in the present, which is key for this game. I hit a great shot on 17 that was the key for me.
“Playing Adrian will be something interesting. He’s playing great. It’s going to be a great match, two Spanish guys. It’s a pity that we have to play in the semi final but it will be a lot of fun.”
Adrian Otaegui:
“I feel good, it was a good match. We played some good golf, some good shots. I think it was good for the crowd. I really enjoyed playing and after winning I’m very happy.
“I struggled a little bit to get the distance and my long iron shots were not the best. But after that I played some good golf on the back nine. Alex too – he made two good birdies on 13 and 15, so yes it was a good match.
“I made a very good second shot on ten and a very good second shot on 12 as well. Two very good five woods and I think that was pretty much the key to the match.”
Johan Carlsson:
“I feel very lucky, and not only lucky, it feels good. It was a tough one on 18, I was really close to hitting a hard six iron. I had about 165 from a pretty bad lie, it was kind of hard to know how it was going to come out. I just figured, play reasonably and you’ll have an advantage anyway, so that’s why I did that.
“I just tried to play my own game, that’s what I’ve been trying to do the whole time. If you look too much at what the others are doing you can get in bad situations mentally. I just tried to really play my own game, I didn’t really look too much at what he did.”
