Starnberg/Germany – He briefly held his breath as Marc Hammer tried to birdie from ten metres on the 18th green of the GC Starnberg, but when the defending champion's attempt missed the hole and Hammer thus missed a possible play-off, Michael Hirmer was relieved. "I haven't had the feeling of winning for such a long time. This victory is very emotional for me - not only because it is the first win as a professional."

Hirmer had already won once on the Pro Golf Tour in 2018 when he secured himself the trophy of the Red Sea Egyptian Classic right at the start of the season, but back then he was still an amateur. In 2020, he turned professional, but had "a very weak season" (Hirmer) last year. When 2021 went less than satisfactorily, he switched to Craig Miller as swing coach and quickly felt renewed confidence.

New swing, new coach

"The whole week I already had a good feeling here in Starnberg, and today I thought that this would be my day," Hirmer said. With strong putts, also from a distance, the 24-year-old gradually played his way to the top of the leaderboard on the excellent as well as demanding golf course high above Lake Starnberg. And when he holed from twelve metres for birdie at the 17th, he went onto the last tee of his final round with a two-shot lead over Marc Hammer.

He was happy to accept the bogey on this par 4 when the victory was wrapped up a little later with a one-stroke lead: "I have fought my way back to the top in the last few months and have trained very well. Now I'm looking forward to the rest of the season and will give everything again."

Ten of this year's 13 tournaments on the Pro Golf Tour have been played, and the number one in the rankings currently remains Frenchman Mathieu Decottignies Lafon; at least until the Altepro Trophy 2021, which is scheduled for 27-29 August in the Czech Republic, where another 30,000 euros in prize money and ranking points are at stake.