German Challenge powered by VcG preview
Tiger Christensen will tee it up at this week’s German Challenge powered by VcG looking to replicate his career-best HotelPlanner Tour performance, which came at last year’s edition of his home event.
The German, who is embarking on his second full season on the Road to Mallorca, finished in a tie for 11th at Wittelsbacher Golfclub 12 months ago after posting a 72-hole total of 12 under par.
Back competing on home soil for the first time since then, Christensen is hoping to challenge on what he predicts will be a low-scoring lay-out.
“I think the scoring is going to be relatively low again so making a lot of putts is obviously going to help,” he said.
“It’s set up better this year with it being a little bit firmer. The fairways are running out and the rough is a bit thicker so that’s going to be different. It’s always nice to be home, it makes such a big difference.”
Christensen arrives in Neuburg an der Donau fresh off his best performance of the season at the Blot Play9 at fortnight ago, where rounds of 69-69-67-71 saw him place inside the top 20.
The following week, the 22-year-old would qualify for the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale after coming through Final Qualifying to secure his spot in the year’s final Major for a second time.
And having seen an uptick in form over the past fortnight, the German believes an improvement on the greens has been key.
“I’ve started rolling in a few more putts which took a lot of pressure off the rest of my game,” he added.
“I played the par fives a lot better which helped and once you’re rolling in a few putts, even if you miss a green you make less bogeys. It was a slight difference with my stroke; I was steering them in too much. Now I’m trying to release my stroke and let them go a bit more.”
Christensen’s first Open Championship appearance came in 2023 when he qualified as an amateur and eventually missed the cut following rounds of 77-74 at Hoylake. This time around, the German has aspirations of experiencing weekend golf at a Major for the first time.
“It’s going to be a different test at Royal Birkdale,” Christensen added.
“A few things have changed since then but do qualify for a second Major after what I did three years ago is just awesome.
“I’m trying to make the cut next week. I missed out by a couple of shots last time. It’s a difficult golf course. If I play well, it will be enough to make the cut and then if I make the weekend, I’m going to enjoy it and go from there.”
Christensen is part of a strong field at this week’s German Challenge powered by VcG including DP World Tour winner Yannik Paul and former European Ryder Cup star Chris Wood.
The first round of the German Challenge gets under way at 7:25am local time on Thursday with Christensen teeing it up alongside American Jhared Hack and Czech Filip Mruzek at 1:20pm on Thursday.
Tournament: German Challenge powered by VcG
Venue: Wittelsbacher Golfclub, Neuburg an der Donau, Germany
Hashtag: #GermanChallenge
