Samooja cards fantastic 64 to win Porsche European Open and gain ticket to US Open

Image credit: European Tour Group

Kalle Samooja put together a fantastic final round of 64 to claim his first DP World Tour title at the Porsche European Open in Hamburg this weekend.

The super Finn carded eight birdies in a blistering final round for a course record taking him to the title.

Overnight-leader Victor Perez, who had been in fine form after winning the Dutch Open last week, birdied the 10th and 11th holes, but bogied three of the next four holes to slip away from contention.

Samooja will now qualify for the upcoming US Open much to the Finn’s delight.

Kalle Samooja said: “It is truly special. It’s been a long journey. Being close a few times, and we had a number in mind today. We reached that and we thought it might be enough. It was a long two-hour wait at the clubhouse and we saw guys battle it out. Fortunately it was enough.

“I was hitting the ball really well all week. When I saw the pins this morning, I said to my caddie there was a low one out there. The pins had been on the ridges all week and today they were at the bottom of the slopes. I knew I had really good control of the ball and my Callaway irons had been working so well all week, all year, pretty much, but this week it really paid off.

“We were pretty sure it would be a play-off or that we might miss the play-off. I don’t know what happened in the end. I was just hoping to get a solo second and a ticket to the US Open, but this is a little better.

“It was in my mind going into this week (US Open). But getting the ticket and the win, it’s unreal.”