Siddikur secures top-three finish in Germany

July 31, 2017: Bangladeshi hero Siddikur Rahman closed with a flawless four-under-par 68 to grab a share of third place at the Porsche European Open held in Hamburg on Sunday.

Siddikur highlighted his bogey-free round with four birdies to finish on 11-under-par 277 total, two shots back of eventual winner Jordan Smith, who defeated Alexander Levy on the second play-off hole for his first victory at the Green Eagle Golf Courses.

The 32-year-old Siddikur moved up 78 spots to 282nd position on the latest Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) following his solid finish, which was his first top-10 result in an European Tour event not co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour.

“It was a really great day. I could never have expected this day. I was very fortunate,” said Siddikur. “My hitting was good, especially my putting was really, really good all four days. I’m really happy with today’s round.”

The two-time Asian Tour winner credited an amazing par on the last hole par-five 18^th where he hit an errant tee shot and a second that found the hazard to tie in third place.

“I knew I couldn’t get there in two, so I had to take three. I told myself, ‘no problem, let’s go for three’ but unfortunately the second shot went a little left and into the hazard,” said Siddikur, who had enjoyed a runner-up finish at his National Open earlier this year.

“Then I told myself again, ‘there’s still a long way to go, one good shot, one good putt, no problem’. My fourth shot was really good. It was very crowded and I was really inspired by the clapping. The last par putt was memorable, I was thrilled to make that and it was very wonderful.”

Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg and Danthai Boonma of Thailand were among those tied in 19^th place on 282 following matching rounds of 69s while Chinese Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang and Thailand’s Poom Saksansin carded identical 70s to finish a further shot back in tied-28^th.

Thai star Kiradech Aphibarnrat signed for a 73 to settle 10 shots back in tied-37^th position while China’s Liu Yan-wei took a share of 66^th place on 291 following a 74.