The German defied cold and wind on the opening lap in Atzenbrugg. He leads the field with the American Catlin.
Martin Kaymer lived up to his role as one of the favorites at the start of the Austrian Golf Open in Atzenbrugg. The two-time major winner from Germany completed his starting lap on Thursday with 68 strokes (-4) and was thus in the lead after the 24 early groups together with the American John Catlin. Austria's great hope, tour professional Matthias Schwab, only started after noon at 1 p.m. from tee 1 in the European Tour tournament.
Kaymer had already started at 8:30 a.m. at 6 degrees plus 10 and quickly took advantage of the slightly better April weather. Before that, the 36-year-old had to complete his practice rounds on the new place in the Diamond Country Club, sometimes with snowfall and sub-zero temperatures. “It wasn't easy to play because it was still so cold,” said Kaymer after his round.
Top class in Atzenbrugg
But he kept his game together well and even finished the difficult holes well. “Unfortunately, another bogey happened to me in the end,” said the German, who had led solo at 5 under par. “Overall, the quality of the shots was very good. I avoided mistakes and made good use of the par 5. That was the key today, “said Kaymer, satisfied.
The Golf Open, which has been held in Atzenbrugg since 2010 and this time endowed with 1 million euros, has not yet had a player like Kaymer at the start. The former world number one is a two-time major winner (2010 PGA Championship, 2014 US Open), has won eleven tournaments on the European tour and won the Ryder Cup three times with Europe.
The Düsseldorf native has not had a win for seven years, but is clearly feeling the upswing. It would not be enough for the PGA tour at the moment, but he could definitely win in Europe, Kaymer had confidently emphasized in advance. Another participation in the Ryder Cup is still a long way off.
Nemecz under pressure
However, Lukas Nemecz didn't get off to a good start. The nominally fourth-best Austrian behind Bernd Wiesberger, Matthias Schwab and Sepp Straka is under heavy pressure after a round of 77 on Friday if he wants to make the cut. “Somehow I couldn't get in. There were a lot of mediocre strokes in a row and on such a difficult place under these conditions you can quickly get bogeys”, explained the Graz native. “That wasn't the game I was used to last.”
Bernd Wiesberger is not at the start of the domestic Open because he only returned to Austria from the US Masters on Tuesday. A week later and he would have liked to have been there, the Burgenlander reported with regret. This time the tournament in Austria was at extremely short notice and instead of Portugal on the European tour calendar, because the tour players from South Africa and Great Britain would not have been guaranteed onward travel to Spain due to the current travel restrictions.
After Austria's largest golf tournament was canceled in 2019 due to a lack of sponsors, the restart of the European Tour took place in Austria in an unscheduled manner in the previous year. This time – again at the request of the tour – the tournament in Lower Austria even had to be set up within just three weeks and despite the current Corona and Brexit problems.
Thanks to the great routine that worked out brilliantly, but no spectators are allowed this time either. “On March 12th, the first specific request from the tour came as to whether we could take over. After that everything went very quickly,” said organization chief Ali Al-Khaffaf, thanking everyone who helped.
