Golf British Open
His name is Tiger – The new German golf sensation
Status: 05.07.2023 | Reading time: 4 minutes
At the age of 19 as a college player at the British Open: Tiger Christensen
Quelle: pa/dpa/Christian Charisius
A 19-year-old amateur from Germany sensationally qualifies for the British Open. Tiger Christensen left golf legends like Sergio Garcia behind. The career of the son of famous parents was mapped out early on, says the national coach.
The first name is well known to golf fans, now it is time to remember a new last name. A young German player is causing a sensation. At just 19, Tiger Christensen qualified for the oldest and most important golf tournament in the world. The hamburger will start at the British Open in Royal Liverpool from July 20th to 23rd. Christensen is not even a professional, but still has the status of an amateur.
Nevertheless, he secured one of the coveted major tickets in the final qualifying session at the West Lancashire Golf Club. 70 players started the tournament over two rounds, only five made it through. Christensen tied for fourth with nine under par and qualified safely. The next-placed players behind him were already three strokes behind, including a superstar like Masters winner Sergio Garcia of Spain.
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He also left other greats in the industry such as Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland) or Jamie Donaldson (Wales) behind and is now taking part in one of the four major tournaments for the first time. This increases the number of German starters to four, with Yannik Paul, Marcel Siem and Hurly Long also traveling to Liverpool.
Father Alex Christensen is a composer, music producer and DJ
At Christensen, success runs in the family, if so far it has been more musical than sporting. His mother Nicole had some chart positions as a pop singer under the stage name Rollergirl around the turn of the millennium. His father Alex is a composer, music producer and DJ. He became known in 1991 through the music project U96 with the number one hit “Das Boot”. He was a member of the “Popstars” jury, represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest and produced albums by Tom Jones, Michael Bolton and Helene Fischer, among others. It was also Christensen senior who gave the Filius the name Tiger.
Alex Christensen and his wife Nicole
Those: pa/rtn – radio tele north/rtn, patrick beaker
“He was born the year I started golf,” father Alex Christensen told the “Südkurier”. In addition to his admiration for Tiger Woods, he counted among his friends the boxer Dariusz Michalczewski, who went by the fighting name Tiger. This is how the son got his name in 2003.
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At the age of two he hit the ball for the first time, at the age of four the training began, soon the sporting advancement through the German youth teams and the move to Spain to a renowned golf school. At the age of 16, Christensen won the International German Amateur Championships. “When I was able to play at international tournaments, I knew that my golf career could be something,” Christensen told Golfpunk magazine: “The football club and piano lessons were cancelled. From then on I played golf mostly seven days a week.”
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This brought him to renowned US colleges, and five schools offered him scholarships in 2021. Christensen first went to Oklahoma State, where great players like Ricky Fowler, Viktor Hovland and the newly crowned US Open winner Wyndham Clark enjoyed their training. But he didn’t feel comfortable there and changed. He’s now playing at the University of Arizona and finding his old form.
“He has no weaknesses in his game”
“Tiger has been playing exceptionally well for a very long time,” says professional national coach Ulrich Eckhardt in an interview with WELT: “He’s one of the best we have among young German golfers. Especially since his life was geared towards a career as a professional from an early age. He gets a lot of support and encouragement from his parents.” Christensen hits the ball very far and is already a very complete player, says Eckhardt: “He moves at the highest level and has no weak points in his game.”
The fact that he is compared to one of the biggest in the industry because of his name – Tiger Woods has won 82 PGA tournaments, including 15 majors – is not a burden, says Christensen himself: “He is my only role model without any ifs and buts. I’ve always seen my first name as a motivation and I’ve always thought it was really cool.”
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Now he can at least take a first step towards such a career in Liverpool. “Tiger making it to the British Open is a fantastic achievement,” says Eckhardt. And the comparison with Woods? The national coach says: “Living in comparison is never effective, he should concentrate on his own career and on the things that he can influence himself. If he’s motivated to be as good as Tiger Woods, that’s a great goal.”
Especially since Christensen will be the only tiger in the field in England. His 47-year-old namesake is recovering from ankle surgery and will miss the Major like all other tournaments in recent months.
Happy about the final putt at the West Lancashire Golf Club near Liverpool: Tiger Christensen drives to the British Open
What: pa/Action Plus/David Blunsden
