Everything you need to know from the Austrian Open
Marc Warrens ends six year wait for win
Marc Warren ended a six-year wait for his fourth European Tour title at the Austrian Open, besting Germany’s Marcel Schneider by a shot on 13 under par.
The Scot, who last tasted victory at the 2014 Made In Denmark, started the final day at Diamond Country Club in a share of the lead with Germany's Nicolai von Dellingshausen, and entered an enthralling back nine battle with Schneider and Spanish youngster Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez.
Warren pulled ahead with a birdie on the 17th to claim a one stroke lead heading down the last, and closed out the tournament with a par as Garcia Rodriguez carded a double-bogey to drop back in to a share of fourth.
“2014 was the last time I won,” said Warren, who earned his victory without a caddie on his bag for the week.
“What’s happened on the golf course in the years since then, I’ve played very poorly. The break has been unfortunate for everyone but it came at a good time for me, spending some time at home and trying to get my game ready to play golf.”
Golf's return with a new Health Strategy
Governed by a new Health Strategy that aims to mitigate the risk of Covid-19, the Austrian Open marked the restart of both the European Tour and Challenge Tour with a few big changes.
Developed by European Tour Chief Medical Officer Dr Andrew Murray in consultation with Cignpost, the new Health Strategy includes rapid on-site COVID-19 testing services, daily symptom checks, social distancing and an enhanced standard of hygiene.
As explained by Dr. Murray, the process players, caddies and staff members will now have to go through at each tournament is ‘some of the strictest screening and testing criteria on earth’.
From TrackMan titles to Austrian Open top tens
Wil Besseling and Connor Syme both claimed two victories a-piece during the European Tour’s BMW Indoor International powered by TrackMan, and successfully carried their simulator form into top tens in Austria.
Syme, who finished as the runner-up to Mikko Korhonen during the Shot Clock Masters here in 2018, recovered from a rocky start on Sunday with three birdies in a row from the 15th to finish in a tie for fourth on ten under par.
“Nice to finish strong,” said the Scot. “It is good to be back playing. I love this course and it was good to get another good result around here. I can take some confidence from it, it has obviously been a long time off, so just recharge and reset for the British Masters.”
Besseling threatened the top of the leaderboard early in the final round with six birdies and one bogey on his outward nine and added one further birdie at the 12th to end the tournament in third place.
“Coming back from four months off, it is really nice to play for a win and I am very pleased where my game is at,” said Besseling. “I played good. Hit a few good shots on the front nine to give myself a lot of opportunities, which I made to get me in contention, and I managed to stay bogey-free which is very pleasing, especially on a Sunday playing for the win.”
Rolling back the years
Miguel Ángel Jiménez proved he’s still one to watch as he carded his lowest round on the European Tour since the 2018 Italian Open during the second round in Austria – a seven under par 65.
The Spaniard, who will soon overtake Sam Torrance’s appearance record of 706 events, already holds the record for the oldest winner on the European Tour, which he has achieved on three occasions: He won the Hong Kong Open in 2012 at the age of 48 years, 307 days, successfully defended his title the following year at 49 years, 337 days, and then broke the record for a third time at the 2014 Open de Espana, where he lifted his 21st Tour title at 50 years, 133 days.
Jiménez struggled during the wet conditions on Saturday and dropped out of contention with a five over par 77, but he recovered well with a two under par 70 on Sunday to finish tied for eighth, marking his first top ten since the 2017 UBS Hong Kong Open.
Austria: The great European road trip
The Austrian Open marked the restart of the European Tour and European Challenge Tour seasons, but the knock-on effects of the global coronavirus pandemic saw a lot of players trade flights for cars as they opted to drive to the event.
In his Player Blog last week Joost Luiten talked about making the ten-hour drive with his caddie Maarten.
“It’s a bit further than normal,” Luiten said. “Usually I drive if it’s to Paris, and I’ve done to Cologne in Germany, because that’s only a two-hour drive from Rotterdam.
“This is one where you would normally fly but because it felt like a better idea to drive and we had some extra time anyway so we thought why not. We just took it easy, so we did five hours on Sunday, stopping in Munich and then did another four or five hours on Monday.”
For others, like Richard Mansell and Connor Syme, the trip was a little longer.
