Sebastian

Heisele

The CU Boulder product torched the ProGolf Tour and Challenge Tour in 2019 with two wins, two runner-up finishes, and a third-place finish. His spot on the Challenge Tour’s order of merit earned him a promotion to the European Tour where he flirted with the Top 100 Race to Dubai for the first time in his career (third full season played). The highlight of his season was a solo 4th at the Italian Open where he was right in the thick of things coming down the stretch on Sunday afternoon. Statistically he ranked 12th off-the-tee, 65th on approach, and 66th in putting. There is plenty of potential still to untap for the tall German who uses a tall putter. DFS gamers should keep a close eye on his early-season form after the calendar flips and play resumes on the European Tour.

The German 31-year-old plays out of the Emirates GC so had plenty of knowledge of the Majlis Course and on Friday it showed. His first nine was a give and take affair with seven pars, a birdie at the sixth and bogey at the seventh. But then he fleeced the early holes on the back nine, ticking the tenth, 11th, 12th and 13th. He dropped another shot at the 15th, but it was sufficient for him to lie in the top ten when he signed his card, just three swings back of the early leader Eddie Pepperell. Heisele is playing on an invite this week and will hope to repay the clubs faith in him. He closed 2019 out in fine style with a win and another three top threes in his final seven starts on the second tier Challenge Tour.

The 28-year-old Dutch-born German will certainly stand out from the crowd at 6’7" tall, but he’ll be playing at a level he’s never really been previously tested at. He turned pro in 2012, progressed through the minor tours, finishing second on the satellite Pro Golf Tour in 2014 and struggled somewhat on debut at Challenge Tour level, not making the top 15 once. But last year 11 top 25 finishes boosted him to 28th in the rankings, not enough to earn a card, but encouraged he nicked one at Q School and rode the wave with a solid T16 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. He’s twice played well in Kenya (trad courses, altitude), a country that is often a good pointer for South African form which concurs with the Leopard Creek effort. Might be worth remembering when the tour returns to the Cape.

The young German earned his rookie year with 19th spot at Q School which has thus far earned him just two starts. He opened brightly enough with T17 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship before missing the cut at the South African Open. Having missed the Desert Swing the next few weeks will be key for his confidence heading into the summer and he’s started in style. Kicking off on the back nine he ticked 11, 14 and 15 before taking bogey at the 17th. The front nine saw no dropped shot whilst he circled 1, 3 and 7. He’ll end the day in rarefied air - even for a man standing 6'7" - because he’s never before ended a round on the European Tour inside the top 15.

Friday’s second sub-70 round took the 6'7" German to 8-under 136, five shots behind pacesetter Brett Rumford. It also made him the leading European after 36 holes on a home-dominated board which features seven Aussies in the top nine. Heisele quickly advanced his overnight score of 5-under to 8-under this afternoon thanks to an opening birdie at 1 and an eagle-3 at the 554-yard 3rd hole. That was as good as it got though as he consolidated from there with 10 straight pars before he dropped a shot at 14. The 28-year-old would get it back with a birdie at 15 before he closed with three straight pars. The first goal for Heisele is to be in the top 24 at the close of play tomorrow. That will book him a spot in Sunday’s match play section of the tournament. Right now, there are 25 players at 6-under or better so he still has plenty of work to do.

The 6'7" German made his move with a trio of birdies at 3, 4 and 5 and responded to a dropped shot at 6 with eagle-3 at 7. After a par at 8, he would have to wait until No. 15 for his next one. Thankfully, that was due to a rash of birdies rather than bogeys as he circled 9, 10, 12, 13 and 14. He added a final birdie of the day at 16 while his only other blemish on the day came at 11. Heisele also went low on his last start when shooting a third-round 63 in the Turkish Airlines Open but dropped to T19 after a closing 78. The rookie, who came through Q-School last season, has crafted three top 25s in five starts on the European Tour this term with a best of T17 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.

The German arrived at 14-under 205 after a steady Saturday lap which featured three birdies, 14 pars and a single bogey. It wasn’t the low one he wanted but with Wallace only shooting even par in round three, Heisele has taken a decent first step in his bid to chase him down. He banked his first birdie of the round at No. 2 but gave it back at the fifth. He cashed in again at No. 7 (he’d played it in eagle-birdie the first two days) but his only other red circle came on the 508-yard par-5 13th. The 26-year-old, who is playing in just his 11th European Tour event, said: “I didn’t play as well as I did for the first two days, so I’ll need something low tomorrow. Matt is just going to keep doing his thing. I’ll try to get a few shots back tomorrow, early obviously to build some pressure, and take it from there.”

The 6'7" German opened with a 64 in Portugal last week and went one lower today at Verdura GC. Heisele raced out of the blocks by playing his first four holes in 4-under and that included a routine par 5 at No.2. He birdied 1 and 3 either side before producing the highlight of his round with eagle-2 at the 322-yard 4th. After five pars he picked up the pace again on his back nine and scribbled circles at 10, 12, 17 and 18 to move up to T4 and just two behind leaders Sebastian Soderberg and Michael Hoey. Before last week’s strong show in Portugal, Heisele was T19 in both the Turkish Airlines Challenge and Trophee Hassan II so this is now a sustained spell of form and he’s worth keeping onside.

The German was becalmed for most of the last day at Morgado G&CC. He ticked 3 and 4, but gave a shot back at 6. A last birdie at 9 was followed by eight pars and a bogey at 12 on the back nine, whilst Wallace scooted clear of the field (and six beyond Heisele). Nonetheless, this result is the tall German’s career best on the European Tour, a third top 20 in a row, and his fourth top 25 of the season. It leaves him ranked 114th heading into the heart of the schedule. Work to do, but a good enough start for the rookie.

The giant German had to curtail his opening lap after play was called early following heavy rain and waterlogging Thursday but returned to the course this morning and hit the birdie trail. Despite wiping out a birdie at 12 with a bogey-6 at 13, Heisele turned in 34 after gains on the par 5s at 15 and 18. He started his second nine with another circle and a pair of red numbers at 7 and 8 allowed him to make it a three-way tie for the lead. The World No. 492 is down at 162nd on the Race to Dubai but found some form with T7 in a Challenge Tour event, the Bridgestone Open, in England last week.