European Tour - Lyoness Open

All those enthusiastic comments following last year's win by Wiesberger at home in Austria and his optimism predicting a new era and a boom in the interest in golf in Austria, didn't seem to have materialised that much one year later... Somehow, I think it'll take more than a nice home win for those conservative Austrians to switch from skiing and yodeling to golf...What about another BW win then? Probably still won't be enough, but then if he could follow that with a surprise top result at Merrion, who knows, then things may just begin to change... Question is, is Bernd W. really good enough to move to the next level and become an established top 50 player in the near future? A win again this week will certainly propel him to that top 50 for the first time in his career, but he will still need to prove that he can stay there...

Not sure how much and how many of us around here will be following this tournament, but there's at least one American chap, i.e. Kyle Stanley, who should keep a very keen eye on the proceedings, and especially on the exploits of BW and , who are the only two in this field who still have a chance to qualify for the US Open (at his expense). Apart from the Mechanic, who has a genuine chance here, there are actually a few other 'oldies' in this field who could do well this week: Levet, Bjorn&Foster, Brier, Fasth... Among the younger generation, probably Larrazabal and Luiten will be my best bet.

Otherwise, this is, or continues to be, one of the most heavily subsidised fields on the ET all year, which on the bright side, could be a great chance for a quasi-anonymus guy from somewhere down that field to shine and have a bit of a breakthrough... The course at Diamond Club is quite tough and it's likely to be soaked considering all the deluge and devastating floods they've had around Central Europe the last week or so. The Danube is only a couple of miles away from there and they'll be praying that it will behave itself for the next few days at least...

Looking forward to watching this, pd, thanks!

Looks like Thomas Bjorn is back to some fitness after struggling early this year - European Golf is always better when he and that Most Interesting golfer are playing well.

Not quite sure how this link will transmit itself, but the unctuous Tim Rosaforte has actually penned a decent article about our good friend Gonzo:

http://www.golfworldmagazine.com/golfworld/20130610?sub_id=1alwBFcdkPbX#pg31

With any luck you might also be able to navigate to a nice preview of Merion, although with buildings falling down in Philadelphia today perhaps other things are on Philly's mind right now.

I'd bet on a podium finish for BW.
Thanks pd,

Cheers, kwini. Nice article on Gonzo.
"I love being a good friend"...what a great line!
Didn't know he proposed on the green in China, but I'm not surprised.
A gentleman and a charmer... Look forward to seeing him again 'live' at the Irish Open in a few weeks time...

Ooops! That wasn't in the script... BW starts with a bogey at the short par 5 10th (only 506 yards)...

EDIT:

I see Kafelnikov is playing this week. +13 through 14 holes. What's the point of letting him in?

Good starts from MAJ and Bernd.

EmmDee,
They needed a Grand Slam winner . . . . . surprised Lendl didn't get in.

Wow... some round from Tom Lewis! Where did that come from?! No top 30 for more than a year, didn't make a cut since February, etc...

BW needs to step it up, T12 is not good enough for Merrion...

A Luiten win would be good as that would almost certainly qualify him for the pga championship (which he led during a large part of the first rd last year)

Kwini, I'd bet good old Thomas Muster getting a wildcard next year

I knew you're going to come out of hiding TMO to rejoyce in Luiten's revival.
Good to see, he's well overdue another win, even though he hasn't been at his best lately...

BW seems to have problems to step up a gear, hope he makes it to Merrion, he won't get a better chance than this very easily. In fact he just went back a notch as i was typing this... not good...

Ah Ha! mighty one: The Muster Meister!!
You'd think Petr Korda would be pretty good also, given Jessica's success.
Not Scott Draper's standard though.


Like you, mighty, I'd like to see Luiten take a career step forward - maddeningly inconsistent given some of his intermittent successes so far. Still young though.

that obvious aye? Although I do like to contribute to discussions all over the place, the ET is not very interesting most of the times (as is shown by the amour of posts on 606). Luiten one of my few personal favourites and yes, that is when the coffin opens and The Mighty One reveals himself!

Has Wiesberger got his fingers Bernd?

Disappointing back nine for Wiesberger, he certainly made it now very tough for himself tomorrow. I guess he'll need at the very least a 67 to have a chance to make it to Merrion... Joost on the other hand steped it up just in time there at the end to give himself a nice cushion for the last day and unless Bjorn or someone else shoots the lights out that course again on Sunday, I can't see the Dutchman losing it from here on...

Go Luiten go!

A win should bring him a spot in the top 100 yet again, I am estimating around 90, but the owgr fanatics should be able to confirm that

Guys, what result does BW need to qualify for Merion? Fifth place or so? Promising start today

I'm afraid Wiesberger just about blew it with that bogey at the 14th. As I said yesterday, he needs at least a 67, which means he needs to pick up two shots in the last 3 holes. He only pared the two par 5s on the back nine which didn't help obviously...

Hi PD, I know you mentioned at least 67 but that does not answer my question. Anyhow, I am guessing 67 would be 9th or better in your expectations?

Hi PD, I know you mentioned at least 67 but that does not answer my question. Anyhow, I am guessing 67 would be 9th or better in your expectations?

I love my iPhone...

Tell your iPhone to check the owgr thread... there is a table there somewhere with what every player has to do for Merrion and that should answer your question...
Too late for BW anyway, he's out of it now, pitty...

Luiten needs to get some birdies...

Pd, well predicted. Luiten and Bjorn...

Just a mention for the seniors event last week fantastic effort for 20 under by Paul wesslingh.I sure he wouldn't mind me saying that he was a decent pro for many years without pulling up any trees as such.Qualified for the Open a couple of times but as soon as he hit seniors last year boom!Happened to a couple of guys maybe slightly shorter courses or fitness levels but something clicks