Samooja storms to victory at Porsche European Open

Kalle Samooja carded a new course record of 64 in the final round of the Porsche European Open to win his maiden DP World Tour title at Green Eagle Golf Courses in Hamburg.

The Finn, who started the day seven strokes back on two over par, carded a flawless eight-under-par round, recording all eight birdies on the final 13 holes of the formidable Porsche Nord Course. He is just the third player in the last 30 years, and the first since Jeev Milkha Singh at the 2006 Volvo Masters at Real Club Valderrama, to win after carding just one under par round with scores of 72-72-74-64.
The 34-year-old faced a nervy two-hour wait as he set the clubhouse target of six-under-par with overnight leader Victor Perez and Dutchman Wil Besseling chasing the title.
“It is truly special. It’s been a long journey. Being close a few times, and we had a number in mind today. We reached that and we thought it might be enough," said  Samooja.
"It was a long two-hour wait at the clubhouse and we saw guys battle it out. Fortunately, it was enough.
“We were pretty sure it would be a play-off or that we might miss the play-off. I don’t know what happened in the end. I was just hoping to get a solo second and a ticket to the U.S. Open, but this is a little better."

After a recovering from a double bogey on the 15th hole with a birdie on the 16th, Besseling then dropped just his third shot of the day on the par three 17th before closing with a final birdie to finish second on four-under – his best result on the DP World Tour in 112 starts.
Three bogeys on his closing seven holes put paid to Perez’s title bid as he sought back-to-back DP World Tour titles after winning last week's Dutch Open, settling for a share of third on three-under-par with Englishman Richard Mansell, who carded a closing two-under-par 70.
Mansell’s third-place finish earned him a place at the U.S. Open in two weeks’ time, finishing ninth in the 2022 European Qualifying Series for the third Major Championship of the season at The Country Club, Brookline.
Germany’s Marcel Schneider shared fifth place with four others as he earned the tenth and final spot of this year’s Qualifying Series, with the top ten aggregate points earners from the last four DP World Tour events set to tee it up in Massachusetts.
2022 U.S. Open European Qualifying Series
1 Victor Perez (France) 674.54
2 Ryan Fox (New Zealand) 608.65
3 Thorbjørn (Olesen Denmark) 595.72
4 Sam Horsfield (England) 498.32
5 Sebastian Söderberg (Sweden) 495.35
6 Kalle Samooja (Finland) 460.00
7 Wil Besseling (Netherlands) 331.81
8 Yannik Paul (Germany) 316.15
9 Richard Mansell (England) 307.78
10 Marcel Schneider (Germany) 297.67