Porsche European Open 2018
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newsroom Sport Jul 29, 2018 Porsche European Open 2018 Surprise win at the 2018 Porsche European Open: Englishman Richard McEvoy finished at the head of a high-class field after four rounds around the Porsche North Course belonging to the Green Eagle Golf Courses. Day 4 The 39-year old only qualified for the tournament with a win the week before on the second tier Challenge Tour. It was his first ever win on the European Tour at his 285th attempt. With a total of 277 (11 under par), he finished ahead of the German amateur Allen John, the Swede Christofer Blomstrand and the Italian Renato Paratore all in joint second one stroke behind. On the final day, 14,300 spectators (total attendance: 39,000) once again lined the fairways. They saw one top star after the other fall by the wayside: Paul Casey (-8, England) was joint seventh, South African Charl Schwartzel (-7) finished joint ninth with Masters Champion Patrick Reed (USA). After starting the final day at the top of the leaderboard, Bryson DeChambeau (USA) posted a six over par round to leave him visibly disappointed in joint 13th. “We have seen some fascinating golf in a fantastic setting. The Porsche European Open is now well-established. It offers an attractive package with top golf and an intensive brand experience, something that has been confirmed by the highly positive feedback from our customers. It means we’re already looking forward to the tournament in 2019,” said Andreas Haffner, Member of the Porsche AG Executive Board, who presented the winner’s trophy to Richard McEvoy. Page 1 of 8 Richard McEvoy at the final hole Tournament director Dominik Senn confirmed that the 2019 Porsche European Open will be played from 5 to 8 September. The event will thus benefit from the changed European Tour and US PGA Tour schedules. As in future the FedExCup will be played in August, the new date offers better opportunities to invite top players. Senn: “Notwithstanding, we’ll continue with our concept of offering high- class golf with a mixture of top players from both sides of the Atlantic, plus young up-and-coming golfers.” The European Open in its 40th year The European Open produced scores of stories in its 40th year – like for instance the impressive performance of the young Austrian pro Matthias Schwab over the first three rounds. It gave him the opportunity to play over the weekend alongside the Masters winner Patrick Reed and therefore in front of a big crowds. Or local hero Benedict Staben’s outstanding start when he shot a 67 to place him in the Top 10. All-in-all, the German players put on a good show over the four days – seven made the cut, more than ever before. Porsche European Open 2018 Porsche European Open 2018 Page 2 of 8 The best story was however written by the amateur Allen John from Ludwigshafen am Rhein. The 30-year old, who plays for the St. Leon-Rot Golf Club’s men’s team in the top German league competition, last year won the gold medal in golf at the Deaflympics in Samsun, Turkey. And now he has shown that he can compete with the European Tour’s elite in his foray onto the top European professional circuit. The former Ryder Cup winner Peter Hanson (Sweden) was particularly impressed by the huge length of the German’s drives: “It’s something I’ve never seen before in professional golf, and I’ve seen them all. Allen simply takes out various obstacles that are alone an optical challenge for every other pro.” Day 3 He is the surprise package of the first three days of the Porsche European Open: Matthias Schwab, the 23-year old professional golfer from Schladming at the foot of the Dachstein mountain range in Austria – a town best known all over the world as a winter sports resort. In the penultimate twosome, the Austrian accompanied Masters champion Patrick Reed (USA) around the Porsche North Course and was completely unperturbed by the situation. At times Schwab even headed the leaderboard, which Bryson DeChambeau (-12, USA) and Richard McEvoy (England) jointly lead before the final round on first place. Matthias Schwab (-11) and Patrick Reed (USA) are in the third place, followed by Paul Casey (-9, England) in the 5th place. Matthias Schwab has been a pro now for a year After the tropical temperatures on the previous days, a violent thunderstorm during play on the third afternoon caused a three-hour break at the Green Eagles Golf Courses. Matthias Schwab also took everything – like the 7,900 crowd – in his stride. On the homepage of his main sponsor, he is quoted as saying, “I play with confidence, believe in myself and keep a cool head.” And there really was no reason for him to freeze in for instance the company of the US PGA Tour stars. As a student at the prestigious American Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee – it voted him the Athlete of the Year in 2016 – he gained the necessary competitive toughness in college golf which included direct duels with a certain Bryson DeChambeau. He has also minutely planned his career on the professional tour. It started when he competed as a 15-year old amateur at the Lyoness Open where he finished in a sensational 32ndplace. He has been a pro now for a year. This is all the more impressive due to the fact that he was out injured for 11 months in 2014 with a back problem. “In this time, I not only doubted that I’d ever make it on the pro tour but also whether I would even ever be able to play golf normally again,” remembers Matthias Schwab. “The bottom line is that the phase actually helped me to be even more thankful for what I can do.” Legendary coach Willi Hoffmann supports Schwab – a good omen for the future The Austrian’s main pillars include his father, a former Olympic bobsledder, and his brother. No less important is his legendary coach Willi Hoffmann, who more than three decades ago guided Germany’s best ever golfer Bernhard Langerto the top of the golfing tree and who still coaches the serial winner on the PGA Tour Champions right up to the present day. Definitely a good omen for the future of the extremely single-minded and highly-talented young professional from the winter sport resort. At times Schwab even headed the leaderboard Page 3 of 8 Day 2 The composition of the threesomes was definitely not a coincidence: Alexander Levy (France), winner of the 2016 Porsche European Open and last year’s runner-up, played the first two rounds of the 2018 European Open on the Porsche North Course with Thomas Björn. The 48-year old Dane is the captain of this year’s European Ryder Cup team that will play USA on the outskirts of Paris from 28 to 30 September 2018. For him, it is an important part of his job to once again personally take a look at one of the hottest wild card candidates. In posting a round of 68, Levy was four under par for today, Friday. Now seven under for the tournament, he put himself in a good position for the weekend in front of 7.500 spectators at Green Eagle Golf Courses. Bryson DeChambeau (-10, USA) continues to lead the leaderboard peppered with top stars, ahead of surprisingly strong Matthias Schwab (Austria) and Richard Mcevoy (both -9, England) and Masters Champion Patrick Reed (-8, USA). Philip Mejow (-6) from Berlin is the best German with Paul Casey (England) in 9th place. Thomas Björn: “They can all play golf" A possible wild card for Alexander Levy has been a talking point for weeks. And naturally there is nothing French golf fans would love more as the – after the Olympic Games and football World Cup – third biggest sports event which will take place for the first time ever in France. However, was not to be drawn on the subject at the Porsche European Open. He was visibly impressed “especially by the back nine holes and Alexander’s finish with four birdies that show just what he is capable of when he’s on fire.” But there is the other side of the very emotional Frenchman when things are not going his way. “They can all play golf,” knows Björn, “but I have to get an idea of how the players function in certain situations and in the end choose those that gel together to make up the best team.” Whilst Alexander Levy’s participation is therefore still open, as far as Martin Kaymer (Germany) is concerned, Björn excludes even theoretical chances of a wild card. Björn: “I know him very well and he is without doubt one of the world’s best pros and would be an excellent addition to every team. At the moment however, things are not going well as he, as far as I can see, is caught up between the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and can’t decide. But he’s smart enough to sort it out in the future.” Thomas Björn, himself a three-time Ryder Cup winner, will by the way only be a spectator over the weekend at the Porsche European Open. He missed the cut by some way. No wonder as Björn has basically spent the past months travelling around the world watching possible team members. There wasn't much room for his own golf, "but I definitely have bigger themes to deal with at the moment".