By Matt Smith
Germany’s Max Kieffer finally ended his near-decade-long wait for a maiden DP World Tour as he triumphed at the Czech Masters on Sunday.
Making his 249th appearance on the Tour, Kieffer carded a six-under 66 to finish one stroke ahead of Gavin Green at Albatross Golf Resort.
Kieffer started the day four strokes behind Green, who led after 36 holes as the tournament was reduced to three rounds due to heavy rain on Saturday. He made a fast start with six birdies in his first 11 holes and recovered from a bogey on 15 with his seventh gain of the day on the 17th hole as he took the lead for the first time on 16-under.
The 32-year-old had previously finished runner-up on four occasions, losing out in two play-offs, one of which was decided after a marathon nine holes in his rookie season in 2013. Extra holes were on the horizon as Green, who was one under par for the day, was just one stroke back as he played the 18th hole.
The Malaysian stuck his approach shot to 10 feet but his birdie putt agonisingly lipped out, handing Kieffer his first victory and his nation’s first DP World Tour title since Marcel Siem won the BMW Masters in 2014.
Green recorded his best finish on the DP World Tour since 2017 as he finished second on 15-under, while South Africa’s Louis De Jager and Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen, who was runner-up at this event last year, shared third on 14-under.
“You’re thinking ‘I want to be ready’, in case he makes birdie you want to be ready,” Kieffer said of a potential playoff with Green. “You expect him to make birdie, you don’t want other people to miss putts but when the guy from the TV said: ‘You’ve won it,’ the feeling was ridiculous. It will need a few days.
“I just love golf. I just love to play golf. Even if I hadn’t won, I’ve still had a great life, I still enjoy playing golf. Now to win, that’s even better. You just have to keep trying. I had a few difficult years where I didn’t play, this year I feel like I’m playing very well. But, deep down, you never know in golf. I’m just so glad and I’m really going to enjoy it.
“To be honest I felt really calm and confident all day. I had a good feeling. I had a great warm up and I was ready to attack today. I thought I’d need at least another birdie because Gavin was at 17-under. I tried to be aggressive on 17. When I saw he was back to 15 and I had a putt for the lead, which I made, then on 18 the nerves kicked in. At the tee shot I was thinking I may not make contact with the ball, but I hit a great shot, then I had a good yardage for the second shot and it was nice to see the full shot in there and I made a nice putt there also.
“It’s got to be hard work. Hard work and keep going, always keep grinding. You have good days, bad days, you have to enjoy the good days and on the bad days you dig deep and keep going.”
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