Although the newly arranged UK swing doesn’t begin for another two weeks, technically the European Tour returns on Thursday when the Austrian Open takes place, although the tournament in reality is a Challenge Tour event in all but name.
Nevertheless, it shows the first steps back to something resembling normality for golf on this side of the pond, and although the event has not generated any UK televised interest, there is still likely to be a lot of interest in the tournament. This tournament has previously been the Shot Clock Masters and the Lyoness Open.
Recent Winners
2018 – Mikko Korhonen
2017 – Dylan Frittelli
2016 – Ashun Wu
2015 – Chris Wood
2014 – Mikael Lundberg
2013 – Joost Luiten
2012 – Bernd Wiesberger
2011 – Kenneth Ferrie
2010 – Jose Manuel Lara
2009 – Rafa Cabrera Bello
The Course
Nothing has changed in regards to the course that is being used this week. We are at the Diamond Country Club which is a par 72 and stretches to 7,458 yards so the longer hitters can have their own way this week, but there is enough in it for the pure ball strikers with all the water that is in play, and that is highlighted by the roll of honour above. The other thing to have on side are players who putt well.
The greens here are on the smaller side so precision with the irons is a must. That usually negates the good putters but a look at the previous winners suggests that the better putters still have a part to play in this tournament. The further you get it out there the shorter the irons you are hitting into these greens so I’m looking for power players who have a nice touch to form my army to go to war with here.
The Field
Given all the travel issues and what is a low prize fund by European Tour standards, it is understandable that the leading lights of the Tour are either plying their trade in America at present, or waiting for the UK swing to come along. That means we have a relatively poor looking field for the return to action although there are some stalwarts of the main tour teeing it up in with a bunch of Challenge Tour players.
Joost Luiten and Mikael Lundberg are former champions in the field while European Tour regulars Nicolas Colsaerts, Thomas Detry, Renato Paratore and Miguel Angel Jimenez are just some of the players with tee times. Connor Syme graduated from the Challenge Tour recently and he’ll be looking for a main tour title this week. Others to tee it up include Max Kieffer, Haydn Porteous and the recent Oman Open winner Sami Valimaki.
Market Leaders
Joost Luiten has won around here in the past and is probably the headline name in the field so it stands to reason that he is a 13/2 favourite to win the tournament this week. He has done the player blog for the European Tour website this week and it has to be said he doesn’t sound massively keen on his chances which is certainly a negative for me if I was considering him at this price. You’ve got to think everyone will be rusty here so I’m in no rush to back anyone at a single figure price.
Thomas Detry is a 7/1 second favourite to land the title. He has been spoken about as a potential star of the European Tour for a while now but we are yet to see him develop his talent into a regular winning machine. In fact we are still waiting for him to win a first solo European Tour title and I’m never in a rush to plough into anyone at this sort of a price when they haven’t won at the level before. He’s going to go in at some point but I’m not interested at this price.
Adri Arnaus has been slated as the third favourite at 16/1 for the tournament but I’ve noticed him in a few qualifying events for the PGA Tour tournaments so I can’t really bring myself to get involved in here. So much has to go right with the current travel issues for him just to tee it up here and that is without the jaded or jetlag issues that he could encounter along the way. I like the Spaniard and in normal circumstances I’d have considered him strongly, but this isn’t the week.
Nicolas Colsaerts ticks a lot of boxes this week in terms of his length and when he gets it going a red hot putter but consistency is often a problem these days and he might just be a shade on the short side as a result at 22/1. He has a good record in what you would call a second tier event in Mauritius but he is based there a lot of the time so that is slightly skewed. There will be better weeks to get on the big hitting Belgian. It is 25/1 bar.
Main Bets
I’ll go with a couple of main bets which are players who have won at main European Tour level who might well go strongly in lesser company. The first of those is Renato Paratore who ticks all the boxes that I want this week. He is a clean and long driver of the ball and he sits at 13 in strokes gained on approach on the Tour this season which shouldn’t be underplayed. A couple of years ago the Italian was one of the better putters on the European Tour and while the flat stick hasn’t caught fire for him recently, this might be the week where having a cold putter is negated with nobody having recent form on the greens. I’ll pay to see at 25/1.
Speaking of good putters, Sami Valimaki sits fourth in the strokes gained putting and having won the Oman Open earlier in the season he should be heading to Austria with his chest out ready to build on that success. He will also be buoyed by his countryman Mikko Korhonen winning around here a couple of years ago and that sort of inspiration can be underplayed. There is no substitute for winning confidence and although that was a second tier event, this is no better so I’ll pay to see how the confident Finn goes here.
Outsiders
I’ll go with a pair of outsiders as well for this week. The first of those is a man who has already won this year, albeit on the Challenge Tour, but as we keep saying this isn’t a whole lot more than a glorified Challenge Tour event. That player is Anton Karlsson. Although he won on the Challenge Tour this year, he does have European Tour form last year that stands out. He was tied for second at the Qatar Masters last season and that’s a good level above this event. The following week he was in the top 10 in Kenya so when he is in form he can maintain it. In these weaker events and after lengthy breaks the recent memory of winning is huge. I think Karlsson is worthy of support here as a result.
The other man who has caught my eye is Robin Sciot-Siegrist, a player who himself has won on the Challenge Tour a couple of years ago. He already has two top 10s to his name on the European Tour as well which is certainly no negative. The first of those came in Mauritius and the second in the Vic Open. Neither had the strongest field but once again neither has this. If he can get himself off to a decent start he might well be able to sustain a decent enough challenge to reward us for an each way punt.
Tips
Back R.Paratore to win Austrian Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back S.Valimaki to win Austrian Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 31.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back them here:
Back A.Karlsson to win Austrian Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
Back him here:
Back R.Sciot-Siegrist to win Austrian Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with 888sport (1/5 1-6)
Back him here:
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