Marcel Siem wins Trophée Hassan II

Germany's Marcel Siem has won the Trophée Hassan II at the Golf du Palais Royal in Agadir, Morocco by three strokes from David Horsey of England and Finland's Mikko Ilonen.

Marcel Siem wins Trophee Hassan II (Getty Images)
Fergus Bisset
By Fergus Bisset
published

Germany's Marcel Siem has won the Trophée Hassan II at the Golf du Palais Royal in Agadir, Morocco by three strokes from David Horsey of England and Finland's Mikko Ilonen.

Siem began the final round four shots clear, but he bogeyed the first and, when Ilonen made three straight birdies from the second, the German was caught at the top of the leaderboard.

But Siem wasn't to be denied. He and Ilonen traded blows through the remainder of the front nine before Siem pulled clear with a birdie at the 11th and Ilonen bogeyed the 12th.

The Finnish star wasn't able to get back on level terms and Siem cruised to a third European Tour title. Depending on the results from the PGA Tour's Shell Houston Open, he may have done enough to earn a start in the Masters.

"That would be unbelievable," said Siem about a potential trip to Augusta. "It's been my dream since I was a kid so if that comes true it will be unbelievable. It would be wonderful to play the Masters. I just want to be on that ground. I'm not going to cry but it would be very emotional."

Ilonen slipped back in the middle of the second nine but he closed with two birdies to climb into a tie for second with former champion David Horsey.

Spain's Pablo Larrazabal couldn't find the spark on the final day and he closed with a 71 to take fourth place on his own.

Trophée Hassan II Golf du Palais Royal, Agadir, Morocco Mar 28-31, purse €1,500,000 par 72 1   Marcel Siem (Ger)   64   68   69   70   271   €250,000 T2   David Horsey (Eng)   68   67   70   69   274   €130,280 T2   Mikko Ilonen (Fin)   69   66   70   69   274   €130,280 4   Pablo Larrazabal (Esp)   72   64   69   71   276   €75,000 T5   Matthew Baldwin (Eng)   72   70   68   69   279   €53,700 T5   Alvaro Velasco (Esp)   67   74   69   69   279   €53,700 T5   Bern Wiesberger (Aut)   72   66   69   72   279   €53,700 8   David Howell (Eng)   71   70   72   68   281   €37,500 T9   Craig Lee (Sco)      69   69   70   74   282   €31,800 T9   Julien Quesne (Fra)   71   72   71   68   282   €31,800   

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage Where next? PGA Tour - D.A. Points wins Shell Houston Open

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly. 

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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