Bernd Wiesberger was rewarded for a wonderful three-week spell in the Middle East with a place in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career.
The Austrian was tied sixth in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, third in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and tied fourth in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic to jump from 73rdto 48thin just a few weeks.
The 29 year old is the first player from Austria to break into the world’s top 50, and he was rightly proud of his progress.
“It’s great,” he said. “I was also the first Austrian to play in the US Open last year, and I hope it paves the way for a lot more to come.
“I was 73rdat the end of last year so I didn’t think I would break into the top 50 so quickly. But I found out where I arrived here in Malaysia on Monday afternoon, when the World Ranking was updated, and I was very happy.
“Being in the top 50 obviously means exemption to the World Golf Championships and the Majors, so it’s a big number and an important mark. I pushed to get into the top 50 at the end of last year because I’d had a so-so season and dropped back a little bit. I didn’t quite make it, so it’s very satisfying to do it early this year.
“It’s just for this week though, and it can change depending on what happens, so I’m not getting too carried away. I’m just trying to get another good week in and maybe move even further up.”
Such a fine start might be attributed to a particularly productive off-season, but Wiesberger admitted that if anything his brilliant form was a surprise.
“It was unexpected,” said the two-time European Tour winner. “I was very consistent for all three weeks and I only had one round where I wasn’t under par, which was good.
“I played in Thailand just before Christmas so that I didn’t have too long a break. The week before Christmas I had some medical check-ups to make sure I am healthy, and I had eye surgery to correct my eyesight.
“I rested well over Christmas and then went to Mallorca for four days before heading to Abu Dhabi. A friend of mine has a course there so it’s nice to be able to go there in the winter period and do some practice. It was nothing different from what I usually do in the winter.”
Next up for Wiesberger is this week’s Maybank Malaysian Open, where he finished tied second behind runaway winner Lee Westwood last year.
“I have good memories of this tournament,” he said. “It was a little later in the year last season, but it’s the same place and I played really well on this course. I’m feeling really good, even though this is the last in a four-week run.
“I’m a little bit more tired than I was at the start of Abu Dhabi, but that’s natural and I’m going to try to feed off those good feelings from the desert to play well again.”
