It could pay to go Green at Austrian Open
In one of the quieter weeks in the golfing calendar - the US PGA tour takes a break before next week's Tour Championship finale - the Austrian Open tees off tomorrow with a less than star-studded field.
Just two players from the world's top 100-ranked golfers will be present at the Diamond Country Club, Atzenbrugg, though they do happen to be two of Europe's Ryder Cup team; Miguel Angel Jiménez, who won the Omega European Masters two weeks ago, and Graeme McDowell, this year's US Open winner.
While Jiménez has been in impressive form in recent months, the victory at Crans-sur-Sierre being the third of the Spaniard's season, the man known as G-Mac by his fans has been in somewhat less glittering form since that fine win at Pebble Beach.
Prior to that win this summer, McDowell had already tasted victory at the Celtic Manor Wales Open - a good omen for the European team, since the same venue hosts the Ryder Cup in October - but having collected his first major in June, the Ulsterman has failed to manage a single top-20 finish in five post-Pebble tournaments. He also missed the cut at his last outing, the PGA Championship.
With such an unremarkable run, perhaps McDowell is canny in deciding to contest the Austrian Open. If the 31-year-old hopes to rediscover his winning touch before the Ryder Cup, he can hardly have picked a softer field in which to do so. Not that he's by any means a certainty to figure at the finish, of course.
There are also doubts over Jiménez, if for different reasons. While McDowell is struggling for form, Jiménez has contested the Johnnie Walker Championship and the Omega Masters in recent weeks; after the exertions of those competitions, there's a sense that the bon viveur may be content to take it slightly easier in Austria.
So what of some of the lesser names? Gonzalo Fernandez and Nicolas Colsaerts may be more tempting; both men figured in the top 10 of the KLM Open last week. True, the Belgian is yet to make his first win on the European Tour, but he looked impressive in Holland, making a 62 in the first round. That makes him an each way prospect, at the very least.
Colsaerts eventually finished some six strokes behind winner Martin Kaymer, but the big-hitting 27-year-old played steadily to finish in eighth place and is surely capable of improving on that finish with this lesser field. Fernandez finished a stroke better than Colsaerts at Hilversumsche, and though he is without a win in two years he looks a reasonable place bet.
Then there's Markus Brier, the Austrian who has won here three times previously, in 2002, '04 and '06 - though on the first two times, the event was part of the Challenge Tour, rather than the more prestigious European Tour.
The local favourite has been rather quiet of late though, and another seasoned campaigner may be a better shout; a winner in 2007, Australia's Richard Green has also figured in the top six on three separate occasions here. At a course he clearly relishes playing on, and with a fifth place finish at his last tournament, the Irish Open, Green could just leave McDowell and co feeling a little jaded this weekend.
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