Maximilian Kieffer wins rain-shortened Czech Masters for first DP World Tour title

VYSOKY UJEZD, Czech Republic – Maximilian Kieffer closed with a 6-under 66 to win the rain-hit Czech Masters for his first DP World Tour title on Sunday.

Kieffer finished one shot ahead of overnight leader Gavin Green at the Albatross Golf Resort near Prague with a 16-under 200 total.

Play had been suspended for the day on Saturday after the course was flooded following heavy rain shortly after the third round started. The round resumed on Sunday with the tournament decided over 54 holes.

Full-field scores from the D+D Real Czech Masters

The first trophy for the 32-year-old Kieffer came after four runner-up finishes on the tour. He also became the first German to win since Marcel Siem captured the 2014 BMW Masters.

“It’s tough right now to say what it means, I don’t know,” Kieffer said. “It’s great. I’m lost for words,”

Starting the round at four shots behind Green, Kieffer rebounded from a bogey on the 15th with a decisive seventh birdie of the round on the par-4 17th to take the lead.

“I thought I’d need at least another birdie because Gavin was at 17 under,” Kieffer said. “I tried to be aggressive on the 17th.”

Green took a three-stroke lead into the final round, but the Malaysian hit the water on the 14th for a double bogey after three birdies on Nos. 1, 6 and 10 to allow Kieffer and Tapio Pulkkanen of Finland to tie him atop the leaderboard at 15 under.

Green (71) equaled his best tour result, a runner-up place at the 2017 Hero Indian Open.

Pulkkanen bogeyed the final 18th hole to card 67 and tie South African Louis de Jager (68) for third place another shot back.