The Open: Marcel Siem stops throwing stones

Marcel Siem once snapped his driver in two in a typical fit of pique but he is not so fiery these days and his maturing behaviour is being rewarded.

The 33-year-old, who clinched the 2006 World Cup with Bernhard Langer for Germany, has won two European Tour events in the last 12 months and is confident of doing well at The Open.

“Since the birth of my daughter two years ago I take golf much more seriously,” said Siem. “I used to throw away so many good results because of my emotions.

“I now accept I’m not a robot and that I’m allowed to make bad golf shots and get bad bounces and not let them ruin my whole round.”

Siem, 33, is up to 60th in the rankings, which represents something of a career turnaround for a player who once had a group of children in tears due to an on-course tantrum.

“It was at one of my home tournaments in Cologne about eight years ago,” said Siem. “It was my last hole and I was about to miss the cut and broke my driver over my knee.

“There were a lot of kids watching and they started to cry. I thought to myself, ‘that’s the last time I do that’. I went up to the kids, gave them a hug and said sorry.”