Marcel Siem completed a remarkable comeback from injury as he beat Tom McKibbin in a play-off to win the Italian Open.
Playing in just his fourth tournament since returning from hip surgery, the 43-year-old German holed a crucial birdie putt on the last hole in regulation to force a play-off against 21-year-old McKibbin, who set the clubhouse target fully two-and-a-half hours earlier after his six under par round of 65.
Siem was cruising after carding three birdies on the front nine at the Adriatic Golf Club Cervia, reaching 13 under par, but four dropped shots on the back nine saw him trail the Northern Irishman by one as he stood on the 18th tee. He hit his approach on the 393-yard par-4 hole to 22 feet and holed the birdie putt to sign for a level-par 71, matching McKibbin’s 10-under-par total.
On the first extra hole, the pair both found the green, but McKibbin’s birdie putt crept past the cup, opening the door for Siem. The German made no mistake again as he rolled his putt in from 12 feet to claim his second victory in just over a year, following on from his Indian Open success last February.
Siem, for whom this was his sixth European Tour title, and 20 years after his first, said: “It was really, really tough. Everybody was making bogeys and doubles, as the wind was really swirling and the pins were tucked in the corners. All the hole locations were in the shade, it was really tough to read the putts. Holing that putt on 18 was one of the best moment of my career, and to do it again in a playoff was fantastic.
“I love this sport and these moments, I work really hard for them. When you get rewarded like this, it’s a very special moment. I think it’s the second oldest trophy on mainland Europe. So I’ve got the French Open and this one now, I’m so proud of that.”
There was some consolation for McKibbin as his runner-up finish secured a place at The 152nd Open as part of The Open Qualifying Series. He will be joined at Royal Troon by Sean Crocker of the United States, who carded a 68 for a nine under par total and a share of third.
Joining Crocker on that number was Germany’s Jannik De Bruyn, who carded a closing 69. Frenchman Antoine Rozner threw away his chance of victory by dropping five shots in the space of five holes from the 13th to the 17th, finishing in a tie for fifth with Andrea Pavan, Adri Arnaus, James Nicholas and Shubhankar Sharma.