Less than a month after the Porsche European Open in Hamburg, the DP World Tour returns to Germany for the BMW International Open at Munich’s Golfclub Munchen Eichenried.
Haotong LI claimed his third DP World Tour win in 2022 when he beat Thomas Pieters in the first playoff hole thanks to a 50-foot putt, and he returns hoping to keep hold of the trophy for another year.
The occasion offers another opportunity for Team Europe Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, who is playing this week, to consider who may make it onto his team for the biennial tournament at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Vice Captains Thomas Bjorn, who has won the tournament twice, Nicolas Colsaerts and Edoardo Molinari also play.
One of the most impressive performers in recent months has been Pole Adrian Meronk, and he is the highest-ranked player in this week’s field at World No.50. Among his achievements in 2023 was victory in the Italian Open at the venue for the Ryder Cup, and he will be hoping to recreate that form after the disappointment of missing the cut at last week’s US Open.
Not surprisingly given its location, plenty of German players are also in the field, some with realistic hope of making Donald’s team. One is Yannik Paul. He has had two runner-up finishes in 2023 so far, and finished third in his most recent outing, the Scandinavian Mixed. Paul is currently third in the Ryder Cup standings and in with an excellent chance of automatic qualification for the tournament.
Other local players hoping to make an impact this week will include 2022 D+D Real Czech Masters victor Max Kieffer and Matti Schmid, whose most notable performance in 2023 to date was a tie for sixth in The American Express on the PGA Tour. The occasion will be particularly special for another German, Hero Indian Open champion Marcel Siem, who was raised at the club as the son of its restaurateurs.
The likes of Scot Robert MacIntyre and Dane Rasmus Hojgaard are two others who will harbour ambitions of playing in the Ryder Cup, and they also have another chance to make a positive impression.
Robert MacIntyre has another chance to stake a claim for a Ryder Cup place in the BMW International Open
(Image credit: Getty Images)
There are several players with relatively recent success on the DP World Tour in the field. One is Victor Perez, who won Janaury’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. More recently, Dale Whitnell cruised to the Scandinavian Mixed title earlier this month, and he also plays. Meanwhile,…
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