More than eight years after winning his one and only Euro Tournament, 31-year-old Marcel Siem lifted another, finishing the French Open held at the at Le Golf National Course, on the periphery of Paris in first place pipping Italian Francesco Molinari by a single stroke.

Siem had a double reason to be happy; not only by winning the tournament but also earning himself an entry spot in the fast looming British Open. The likeable German finished his last round with a formidable 67 to complete the competition on an eight-under par, 276.

However, it was Molinari who garnered the early attention on the final round, which he began by sensationally double-bogeying the opening hole, and then grabbing nine birdies to finish the round on 64, the lowest score for the entire long running tournament for all of the week.

But it was the French golfer Raphael Jacquelin, playing in front of a friendly local crowd, who came closest to forcing Siem into a sudden death situation when he holed his second shot on the seventeenth. Then, with the crown behind him, it appeared that Jacquelin lost his composure at the 18th, only managing to shoot a par four, leaving him six under in third place.

Finishing in joint fourth were an English trio, David Lynn, Ian Poulter, and David Howell who went into the final round as joint overall leader. Unfortunately, Howell was to have his hopes dashed when he bogeyed two of his first three holes.

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods, on the lookout for his first classic gold tournament win for a long time, gave himself a resounding slap on the cheek, by failing to make the cut at the Greenbrier Classic last weekend, in his final tournament before the coming British Open to be held in the previous weekend. Tiger was looking as if he was getting back to his former greatness, by winning his third PGA Tour victory of the year, the AT&T National.

Sadly, Woods finished the first two rounds at the Greenbrier Classic, on an even-par 140, leaving him one stroke away from the cut.

With the British Open, to be held at Royal Lytham St Annes in a few days time, Wood will be wondering when his erratic form will end and if he can return to winning the major tournaments.

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