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Just a day after American golfer Lee Ann Walker racked up 58 penalty shots in the Senior LPGA Championship, German pro Marcel Siem has also made a massive rules blunder of his own – with dire consequences.

The four-time European Tour winner disqualified himself during today’s first round of the Open de France after being assessed TEN penalty strokes.

The 39-year-old was hit with the sanction after mistakenly thinking that preferred lies were in place at Le Golf National. He lifted, cleaned and replaced his ball five times during the front nine – for which he was one-over – before his mistake was brought to light.

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He was hit with a two-shot penalty for each infraction, leaving him 11-over-par after just nine holes.

Writing on Facebook afterwards, he explained: “That was a little too much for me and I disqualified myself. I thought I owed you the explanation.”

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Siem entered the Open de France in 189th place on the Race To Dubai. 

With only one event of the regular season left – next week’s Portugal Masters, for which he’s not entered – he now cannot retain his card through the rankings and so is facing the prospect of a visit to Q-School in November.

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Siem hasn’t had a top-100 anywhere in the world since 2017 and has fallen to No.794 on the Official World Golf Ranking. 

However, despite today’s setback, he’s in bullish mood approaching Q-School, telling his Facebook followers: “I promise I’ll be back.”


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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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