Second victory: Arkenau wins the playoff
LOTOS Polish Open 2016
After he had already won the KOSAIDO Düsseldorf Open a few weeks ago, German Hinrich Arkenau also secured himself the trophy of the LOTOS Polish Open 2016. He defeated fellow countryman Sascha Schmidt from Hamburg on the first extra-hole of the playoff.
Wejherowo/Poland − Again victorious after a playoff: Just like at the Sparkassen Open in Bochum, the winner had to be found after the three regular rounds were played. This time the Germans Hinrich Arkenau and Sascha Schmidt laid even on the leaderboard after 54 holes. Already on the first green, which belongs to the 356 meter Par 4 18th hole, Arkenau finished the playoff by scoring par.
"Already having won a tournament was definetly a big advantage! By that the pressure wasn’t that much. I’m very confident at the moment and my game’s very solid!" After he had scored the best round of the tournament, a 65, on the first day of the LOTOS Polish Open and played excellent golf on a high level, he struggled on the second 18 holes with a round of 73 with unusual many faults in his short game. That’s why his aim for the final day was to “play solid and calm” which Arkenau managed to converted perfectly: After 18 holes without a single bogey, the 26-year-old had five birdies written down on his scorecard - a 67, meaning he achieved the first place on the leaderboard.
Sascha Schmidt from Hamburg, who was the single leader with 9 under par after day 2, scored just as much as Arkenau during the tournament, so the two players competed in a playoff. Hinrich Arkenau won the duel by playing par on the first extra-hole, while Schmidt needed three puts to score a bogey.
"The Sierra Golf Club is a great resort, an amazing golf course!", Arkenau worshiped the par-72-parcours. "It’s a lot of fun to play here. The course has a solid length and is very diversified. It surely belongs to one of the most beautiful spots of the tour."
Three tournaments are still up to come in the 2016 season of the Pro Golf Tour and Hinrich Arkenau wants to continue his race to catch up: After five tournaments played he’s already on the 8th rank of the Order of Merit and the Top 5 are in sight. Only 3250 points are separating him from Frenchman Johann Lopez Lazaro, number 5 of the ranking. The players will have their next chance to earn some ranking points at the Gut Bissenmoor Classic, which will take place from August 4 to 6 in Bad Bramstedt, Germany.