After the Romagna Riviera the Germans did they take also the Italian Open in Romagna. Marcel Siem, 43 years old wins in the playoff on Tom McKibbin, 22 year old from Belfast. The two places up for grabs for The Open 2024 go to McKibbin himself and Sean Crocker. Pavan, fifth, is the best Italian. Also in the top ten are De Leo, Manassero and Celli.
di Sauro Legramandi
The real winner is the field. The Adriatic Club of Cervia defended itself very well, as shown by the (only) -10 final for the German and the Northern Irishman. To find a result like this, you have to go back in history, to Albenza in 1996 when the Englishman Jim Payne won with -9.
The sometimes suffocating heat and the changeable wind made the fourth day in Cervia even more competitive. The Frenchman knows something about it Antoine Rozner, who started as the leader and remained so until the sixty-sixth hole when he suffered a mental and playing crisis. The three bogeys and the double bogey in the final rush prove it. So goodbye Troon and dreams of glory.
The same was about to happen to Marcel Siem who from 14 onwards discovered a sudden passion for bunkers and series difficulties. The German left three shots on the field between the 14th and 17th before pulling out his nails. At the 18th he took birdie to catch McKibbin and play for the playoff. The final score was proof of his difficulty: on Sunday he shot par (71) after a 69, 68 and a 66 in the first three days.
The exact contract of his opponent who passed the cut by one stroke (-1). Then he let himself go through two rounds of 68 and 65 shots. The Northern Irishman (tired of the comparison with McIlroy just for having grown up in the same Holywood club) took to the field at 10.20, finished around 2.30 and then watched from the clubhouse as the playoff was approaching.
Marcel Siem, from Langer to the Italian Open
Having believed in himself until the end is typical of Marcel Siem (currently number 225 in the world). He is a professional who doesn’t hold anything back, whether he makes a mistake or a good one. People like him have no shortage of experience: just think that he set foot on the Tour in 2000 when McKibbin wasn’t yet born.
A quarter century of career marked by the victory in the World Cup with Langer (2006) and the return to the Challenge Tour before starting again. For Siem, career successes have become six: with the 2024 Italian Open they make two titles in the space of two years (in 2023 he won the Hero Indian Open) while the fourth one dates back to ten years ago. “It’s nice to win a match before playing at home, in Monaco (next stop of the tour, ed.) – he said at the end of the tour -. My goal now is to play a Ryder Cup or the Masters once”.
Andrea Pavan best blue
Another German who returns from Romagna with a smile is the 24 year old Yannick De Bruyn third (-9) in the company of Sean Crocker.
In fifth place the tricolour stands out. It is that of Andrea Pavan (-8) which in eight days finishes in the top ten for the second time (in the Netherlands it was fourth). For him this is a big injection of optimism. Too bad about that ball disappearance on a tree Friday. An unforgettable Open also for Gregory DeLeo who played great and finished at -8. Same score as Matthew Manassero (the most followed by the public) and Filippo Celli.
