Sami Välimäki hopes to hold on to that winning feeling when he tees it up at the Austrian Open as the 2020 season restarts this week at Diamond Country Club.
The Finn won his maiden European Tour title at the Oman Open defeating Brandon Stone in a dramatic three-hole play-off.
The 2019 Qualifying School graduate will be making just his eighth European Tour appearance this week, one week shy of his 22nd birthday.
“After the suspension of tournaments around the world, for the first three weeks I felt really disappointed because we couldn’t play golf,” said Välimäki. “But after that it was nice to relax with my family and let it sink in that I won on the European Tour.
“It’s something I am really proud of, the way I played and the way I won the Oman Open. All of my friends and family were really happy for me, seeing the hard work pay off, so we had a big party to celebrate.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to competitive golf, it’ll be nice playing again. It’s been a long time since we’ve played in conditions like these. We’ve had a couple of tournaments back in Finland, and we have all been really safe out on the golf courses.
“There are a few things I’ve been working on with my game, so we’ll see what happens. I’m feeling good, so you never know. Everyone is in the same situation. It has been very different, so we’ll see what happens over the next few days.”
The dual-ranking European Tour and European Challenge Tour Austrian Open marks the restart of the season, with all events now governed by the European Tour’s comprehensive Health Strategy, which has been developed by Chief Medical Officer Dr Andrew Murray in consultation with healthcare specialists Cignpost and advisors in many of the 30 countries in which the European Tour plays.
The Austrian Open will be followed by the Euram Bank Open at GC Adamstal, before the action moves to the Betfred British Masters hosted by Lee Westwood, the first tournament of the new six-event UK Swing.
