Round 1
The 28-year-old only drove to Hamburg on Friday from Brussels and played a few holes on the challenging course in the afternoon. The preparation worked a treat for Detry’s game – with seven birdies in nine holes, he found himself topping the high-class line-up at four under par. Only a double bogey on the 5th allowed his rivals to stay in touch.
After the first of three rounds, Detry is one shot ahead of the Swede Alexander Björk, China’s Ashun Wu and Scotland’s David Law. All four went out early in the morning. Later in the afternoon, play was suspended due to the inclement weather and by that time the wind had got much stronger, with afternoon starter Ashley Chesters managing to join the trio tied in second place on three under.
“Not thinking about golf did me a world of good”
Detry, who dropped out of the European Tour’s Top 10 in March, said the difference between the two halves hinged mainly on his putting. “There was not a great deal of difference in my game itself. The first half was solid. It was just that the putts weren’t dropping. I’m pretty satisfied with the way everything went. It was very good golf,” said Detry, who spent a few days back home in Belgium after intensive weeks at the PGA Championship and the European Tour’s Made in Himmerland tournament in Denmark. Whilst there, he did a spot of gardening and put his golf bag to one side. “I didn’t think about golf at all, and it did me a world of good.” Proof can be seen in the fact that his name heads the Porsche European Open leaderboard after the first round.
As for the top favourites, the opening day of the prestigious European Tour tournament was not so encouraging. Title holder Paul Casey shot a three over par 75 making it the Englishman’s worst ever score on the Porsche Nord Course. “That was a tough day out on the golf course,” said Casey. “I think the course is even harder that the one two weeks ago at the PGA Championship in Kiawah Island. But the leaders are not out of sight. Perhaps I’m in with a chance if I can quickly come up with a few birdies and sprint up the leaderboard.”
.jpeg/jcr:content/Paul Casey (ENG).jpeg)
It is also something Martin Kaymer will be hoping to do. After a good start with 11 pars and two birdies, he fell back after bogeying the 14th, 15th and 16th to finish the day in 36th place. Abraham Ancer and Henrik Stenson are four and five over par respectively after 18 holes.
The preview
Getting back into the swing of things: for the first time in just under two years, the Porsche European Open will again showcase high class golf in Germany – and in front of spectators. After the authorities gave the go ahead for the model project, golf fans will now be able to watch a European Tour event live in Europe for the first time since October 2019. The tournament however first had to be put back two days at short notice due to the stricter regulations in place for players and staff travelling from Great Britain. It will be played for the fourth time at the Green Eagle Golf Courses complex on Hamburg’s doorstep from 5 to 7 June. The combination of another powerful field – headed by title holder Paul Casey – and the outstanding Porsche Nord Course venue means that the sixth edition promises to continue the tournament’s successful history.
“Especially in these difficult times, our and the new organisers U.COM Event joint aim was to actually hold the tournament and therefore give the game’s fans the opportunity to watch high class golf again,” says Deniz Keskin, Director Brand Management and Partnerships at Porsche AG. “Particularly pleasing for us is naturally the fact that fans will be able to experience the world class golfers live at the Porsche Nord Course venue and in doing so generate the accustomed excellent atmosphere.”
Deniz Keskin will also be a guest in the first Porsche European Open Sky Live Talk scheduled to start at 5 pm CEST this Tuesday. The show will be hosted by Sky’s Florian Bauer who will also be joined by the Tournament Director Dirk Glittenberg and the two-time major winner Martin Kaymer. It will be broadcast live on skysport.de.
Major winner and US PGA Tour stars
The tournament’s top stars this year include the Porsche Brand Ambassador Paul Casey from England, the Mexican Abraham Ancer, one of the PGA Tour’s recent rising stars and the Swedish major winner Henrik Stenson. All three compete in the main on the US PGA Tour.
From a German point of view, golf fans can look forward to Martin Kaymer making his first appearance at Green Eagle as well as Max Kieffer, who has caused quite a stir this year with two runner-up finishes on the European Tour.
Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo as the hole-in-one prize
In compliance with all the necessary regulations, Porsche customers can enjoy both reserved parking at the venue and the facilities at the Porsche Owners‘ Garden on the Porsche Nord Course’s 17th hole on each day of the tournament. This year’s hole-in-one prize, a Porsche Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo, will be showcased on the Par 3 tee. After the historical appearance of the Taycan Turbo S at the 2019 Porsche European Open only a few days after its world premiere, the first derivative of the successful electric sports car is now awaiting a happy winner. He can look forward to a powerful electric athlete and a real all-rounder that fits excellently into the sports world with its off-road features and a more spacious interior.
Awaiting the leader at the end of each of the first two days of tournament play is also a unique Porsche experience: the player topping the leaderboard can enjoy his trips to and from the golf course in the Leader’s Car, a Porsche Taycan Turbo S in gentian blue with a special livery in the corporate tournament design. On both evenings after the first two rounds, fans will also have the opportunity to ask the leader a question via Instagram. The most exciting ones will be answered by the pro the next morning as soon as he arrives at the course in the Leader’s Car.
Support through Paul Casey
In 2019, the eventual winner Paul Casey also took a seat in the Leader’s Car. The Porsche Brand Ambassador not only wants to successfully defend his title but is also committed to supporting the tournament: “Organising a golf event like this one is currently a major challenge for everybody involved – something that was not only obvious in the past few days in the lead up to the Porsche European Open. It’s why I’d like to support this event, one I really love to play.”
The three-time Ryder Cup winner is also the face of this year’s golf and tournament campaign in which he links the Porsche and golf worlds as a top golfer and big fan of the brand. Additionally, the Englishman can also be heard from Thursday 3 June in the new English-language episode of the Porsche “9:11” podcast together with the Porsche works driver and golf enthusiast Kevin Estre.
Porsche in golf
Porsche has been the title sponsor of the Porsche European Open, a European Tour event, since 2015 and has been involved successfully in professional golf with automotive partnerships at three tournaments on the Asian and European Tour since 2019. Last year the sports car manufacturer additionally supported the UK Swing with the European Tour’s “Golf for Good” initiative. Porsche has also been organising the Porsche Golf Cup for more than three decades. The tournament series is one of the company’s most successful customer events. Held in Germany for the first time in 1988, the Porsche Golf Cup has developed into an international event at which recently over 17,000 Porsche customers competed in 261 qualifying tournaments worldwide. Also highly successful is the Porsche Golf Circle, an international and app-based community for keen golf-playing Porsche customers that was launched in 2017.