The 149th Open

Mixed Zone

Friday, 16 July 2021

Marcel Siem


Q. Marcel, another how satisfied are you with the performance?

MARCEL SIEM: I'm very, very happy now after birdieing 17 and 18. Left out a few chances today. Hit good putts actually but misread them.

Yeah, super happy. I think that holing that putt on 18 was amazing, amazing feeling. (Smiling.)

Q. I was in the Vaudreuil last week. I played the pro-am, and I talked to (indiscernible) a few minutes ago and told me to say you hello. Could you imagine last week being in contention for the weekend at the British Open and at The Open?

MARCEL SIEM: No. Last week I couldn't even imagine to win. I tried to win last week and achieve something very special that gave me a big boost. And thanks to (indiscernible) and all you guys putting that much confidence into me and being so nice to me.

This is a new week. My daughter, yesterday she said, Daddy you have to win this week as well. These are kids. I'll try to stay as calm as possible.

It's going to be huge now. Going to be a lot of crowds and the pressure will be high. I will do my best to do the same I did last week.

Q. You've shown your emotion on the course many times. (Zoom audio cut out.)

MARCEL SIEM: Yeah, (Mic audio cut out.)

Q. Another great round today. After we spoke yesterday, how did you celebrate your birthday?

MARCEL SIEM: I had one glass of red wine with my caddie in the players' lounge when we had dinner, and then I went to bed. There was a lot of text messages. I tried not to reply. Very exhausting. (Mic audio cut out.)

Q. This time last week you started the round you were level par in France. Three rounds later you were -- you won the title and got qualification to The Open with a 15-under par weekend. Another 6-under par for the last two rounds. You must be confident bringing that into the weekend and maybe challenging for a title here.

MARCEL SIEM: Yeah. It's a tough question. I mean, I'm playing well. I won last week. I have to stay humble. I lost my card. I'm coming from nowhere and I will definitely try my best to compete, but I can't give any predictions. I'm very calm at the moment, focused. My game is there. Putting is good.

I will definitely try to, yeah, play my best and stay calm, and hopefully I will be up on the leaderboard somewhere.

Q. Would I be right in saying that today was a better round in terms of stroke, tee to green, driving? Certainly the stats would reflect you had an extra two fairways found today. Maybe you shaved a hole and one or two putts that could have been an even better round?

MARCEL SIEM: Yes, that's definitely the case. My driving was definitely better than yesterday. My iron shots were pretty similar. I left out a few chances today. Hit good putts but misread them. 17 and 18 were finally great putts middle of the hole, which was awesome.

I think my patience was just really, really good today as well. I was 1-over again and the putts didn't drop, so I think that was the biggest key today. You were right with the driving, that's for sure. It was a bit better today.

Q. You're creating a bit of a stir online. Challenging Guido Migliozzi for fist bump of the year award. If the two of you are paired in the same group over the weekend will there be much trouble?

MARCEL SIEM: Yeah, I mean the problem is always when you do well, the first bumps come out. When you don't, there is a bit of grumpiness as well in there. So if I play with him hopefully it's going to be loads of fist bumps. I would really look forward to that and I think the crowds as well.

Q. I think the crowd wouldn't be able to control themselves. Best of luck over the weekend and hopefully we get to speak again.

MARCEL SIEM: I wish that as well. Thank you so much.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
110282-2-1002 2021-07-16 14:17:00 GMT

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