With a long history on both the European Tour and the European Challenge Tour, it’s only fitting that the Austrian Open welcomes back both in a dual ranking event. Last we saw the Euro Tour at Diamond Country Club was in 2018 when Mikko Korhonen won the innovative Shot Clock Masters. That was the first professional golf tournament to use a shot clock on every shot. There is no such rule in place this year to worry about. If you’re not familiar with the Euro circuit’s developmental tour some names will be unfamiliar. The top of the odds list is dotted with Euro Tour regulars with Joost Luiten opening as the betting favorite. Thomas Detry is the only other player to open with single digit odds. We saw 80/1 longshot Daniel Berger win the first PGA Tour event following the lockdown, could the same happen near Vienna this week? Visit BookMaker.eu for a complete list of betting odds when you’re ready to place a wager.
Odds to Win Austrian Open at BookMaker.eu
Joost Luiten +660
Thomas Detry +760
Adri Arnaus +1410
Renato Paratore +1800
Nicolas Colsaerts +2000
Connor Syme +2200
Lorenzo Gagli +2500
Haydn Porteous +2800
Maximilian Kieffer +3300
Miguel Angel Jimenez +3300
Antoine Rozner +3300
Adrien Saddier +3500
Sebastian Heisele +3500
Sami Valimaki +4000
Rikard Karlberg +4000
Tapio Pulkkanen +4000
Francesco Laporta +4000
Scott Vincent +4000
Wil Besseling +5000
Oscar Lengden +5000
Adrian Meronk +5000
John Catlin +6000
Nicolai Hojgaard +6600
Eduardo De La Riva +6600
Ben Stow +6600
Anton Karlsson +6600
Gregory Bourdy +6600
Robin Sciot-Siegrist +7000
Odds Analysis
Joost Luiten +660
There is a difference between the Euro Tour restart and when the PGA Tour played its first tournament after the shutdown – the field. The PGA stop was full of Tour regulars where this is a dual-ranking event with the lower tier Challenge Tour. So, that makes the favorite more appealing. And the favorite is Luiten, who looks to build on and continue the success he enjoyed earlier in the season. Luiten was T10 at the Oman Open and T21 at Qatar Masters just before the shutdown. “I feel as though I’m hitting the ball well. I need to see how I do under pressure,” Luiten said of practice time during the shutdown.
Anton Karlsson +6600
Though he played just three tournaments prior to the Challenge Tour getting shut down, Karlsson ranked second in the Road to Mallorca standings. He claimed his first Challenge Tour victory back in February coming from three shots back to overtake Garrick Higgo at the RAM Cape Town Open. He played on the Euro Tour in 2019 with a pair of top-10s, including a runner-up showing at the Qatar Masters roughly 16 months ago.
Markus Brier +25000
Practically a legend in Austria, Brier is the only player to win this event multiple times. The Vienna native is his country’s second-highest ranked player with exactly half of his six combined Euro and Challenge Tour wins coming at this event. In 2002 and 2004 he emerged victorious on the Challenge Tour, and in 2006 he became the first Austrian to win a European Tour title. He is 52 and he’s never won at Diamond, which is why the price is where it is. But this is the event he gears up for every year, so he might be worth dropping some pocket change on.
Miguel Ángel Jiménez +3300
As you’ll read further down this is a course that Jimenez helped redesign. Does that give him an advantage? Well, he still has to hit the golf ball long and straight, so probably not. At 56 Jimenez is older that Brier, but he’s been more competitive on the Euro Tour and PGA Champions Tour with his play speaking volumes. He hasn’t competed since January with a T16 at the Dubai Desert Classic so there’s likely to be some rust. He also had plenty of time off to rest up for this event with the entire field being in the same situation.
Sami Välimäki +4000
There are some high profile Euro Tour swingers like Thomas Detry, Adri Arnaus and Nicolas Colsaerts among the top five on the odds list. However, none of them enter this event off a win. Valimaki is the only player in the field to collect a Euro Tour win this season, taking the Oman Open in a playoff in early March. He also had a T7 at the Vic Open prior to that with his game in a good place.
Course: Diamond Country Club – 7,458 yards, Par 72
Located just west of the capital city of Vienna in Atzenbrugg, Diamond Country Club has hosted this event since 2010 with a number of close calls. Three of the previous nine playings went to a playoff and two others were decided by a single swing in regulation. Bernd Wiesberger carded a record 19-under 269 for this event winning by three-shots in 2012. Opened in 2002, a number of holes have since been remodeled with the help of Euro Tour veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez Water is a prominent feature on the 7,458-yard track with a lake nestled up against the right side of the finishing 18th hole, which will certainly add to the excitement of a close finish.
TV Coverage: None
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