Austrian Golf Open Preview

The European Tour heads to Austria this week for the 20th edition of the Austrian Open. This year's tournament will be contested at a new venue - the Diamond Country Club at Atzenbrugg near Vienna.

Graeme McDowell
Fergus Bisset
By
published

Lowdown: The European Tour heads to Austria this week for the 20th edition of the Austrian Open. This year's tournament will be contested at a new venue - the Diamond Country Club at Atzenbrugg near Vienna.

Opened for play in 2002, the course takes over as host to the Austrian Open from Fontana Golf Club. The Diamond Country Club is an interesting Jeremy Pern design featuring water hazards on nine of the 18 holes.

Last season, this tournament witnessed one of the best rounds ever seen on the European Tour when Spain's Rafael Cabrera-Bello closed with an incredible 60 to overtake England's Benn Barham and win the title by a single stroke.

The tournament was first contested in 1990 when Bernhard Langer took the title. Since then, Ronan Rafferty, Paul McGinley, Richard Green and Jeev Milkha Singh have all been winners.

Cabrera-Bello is not on the start sheet this week but a strong field will assemble in Atzenbrugg as players make final preparations for the Ryder Cup and chase valuable Euros in their personal quests to make the Dubai World Championship or to retain their playing rights for 2011.

US Open champion Graeme McDowell and three-time winner in 2010 Miguel Angel Jimenez will tee it up as will 2004 Open champion Todd Hamilton and home favourite Markus Brier.

Venue: Diamond Country Club, Atzenbrugg, Austria Date: Sep 16-19 Course stats: par 72, 7,242 yards Purse: €750,000 Winner: €125,000 Defending Champion: Rafael Cabrera-Bello (-20)

TV Coverage: Thursday 16 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 10am Friday 17 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 10am Saturday 18 - Live on Sky Sports 1 from 12pm Sunday 19 - Live on Sky Sports 2 from 12pm Player Watch: Graeme McDowell - The Northern Irishman will be looking to find form ahead of Celtic Manor. He'll aim to make it six consecutive wins on the European Tour for members of Colin Montgomerie's team.

Jose Manuel Lara - The Spaniard produced a good display in the KLM Open last week to finish in a tie for fourth. He's a streaky player so could be one to watch again this week.

Miguel Angel Jimenez - The veteran is in the form of his life and is enjoying every moment of it. Don't be surprised to see him contend again in this event.

Key hole: 15th. It's a par 3 of only 159 yards but it's an island green and anything straying off line could end in a watery grave.

Skills required: Adapting. It's a venue none of the players will have competed at before so getting to grips with the challenges it poses will be the key to success.

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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