Austrian Open

The official name of the tournament has been Shot Clock Masters since 2018 . The multi-day golf tournament of the PGA European Tour has been held annually since 2010 in the Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg .

history

From 1990 the Austrian Open was held under different names as part of the European Tour until 1996. From 1997 to 2005 the tournament was then only held as a secondary event of the Challenge Tour , of course with greatly reduced prize money. From the 2006 season the return to the "big" tour followed and the prize money increased significantly to € 1.3 million. That is in the lower mid-range of the pricing for a European Tour event. The Scotsman Colin Montgomerie , eight-time winner of the European Tour Order of Merit , acted as the event's ambassador in 2006 and 2007 .

It should be noted that the Bank Austria Open was organized by the former sponsor as part of the Challenge Tour between 1992 and 1994 (see list of winners). Because of the title sponsorship by the Lyoness company , the name was changed to Lyoness Open in 2012 .

Venues

The tournament was held from 2006 to 2009 at the Fontana GC in Oberwaltersdorf . From 2010 onwards it took place in the Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg , west of Vienna .

2006 tournament

Colin Montgomerie at the Austrian Open 2006

The Austrian Markus Brier at the Austrian Open 2006

The start went perfectly, with a home win by the Austrian parade golfer Markus Brier and a very representative starting field. In addition to Colin Montgomerie, the Ryder Cup players Thomas Björn , Miguel Angel Jiménez and Paul McGinley as well as other established participants were impressed on the tee and by the golf course.

2007 tournament

After just two rounds, the world-class golfers Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke , as well as the defending champion Markus Brier, were eliminated. After an exciting run, the Australian Richard Green prevailed in the jump-off - at the first extra hole - against the two-time Open de France winner Jean-François Remésy and ended his ten-year winless period on the European Tour .

2008 tournament

In 2008 the Indian Jeev Milkha Singh (right in the yellow shirt) won

The event had to be shortened to three rounds due to the weather and was dominated from the start by Indian Jeev Milkha Singh . Defending champion Richard Green failed on the cut, as did Ryder Cup player David Howell and former US Open winner Michael Campbell . As the best local, Markus Brier landed on a shared 25th place.

2009 tournament

After the Englishman Benn Barham had led the first three rounds, he was caught by one stroke on the final day by the Spaniard Cabrera-Bello with a round of 60 (11 under par). This round also means a course record and shared with twelve other players it is the lowest round that has ever been played on the European Tour. The best Austrian was again Markus Brier, who finished in 17th place. Two-time Masters winner José María Olazábal missed the cut by two strokes. The only 14-year-old Austrian amateur Robin Goger, who achieved the same result as Olazábal, delivered a test of talent.

2010 tournament

At the new venue, the Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg , the Spaniard José Manuel Lara won after a jump-off against the Englishman David Lynn . With a significantly reduced prize money of € 750,000, his winner's check was € 125,000.

The 15-year-old Austrian amateur Matthias Schwab made the cut as the third youngest player in the history of the European Tour (after Sergio García and the Chinese Jason Hak), was tied for ninth place after three rounds and finished the tournament as a tied 32nd and best Austrian . This ranking is the best that a golfer of his age group has ever achieved on the European Tour; Garcia and Hak landed above the 60th rank on their appearances at the time.

Markus Brier was split 45th, all other Austrian participants failed at the cut. The reigning US Open Champion Graeme McDowell finished third, three strokes behind.

2011 tournament

The prize money was increased to € 1 million and the victory went to the Englishman Kenneth Ferrie , who defeated his compatriot Simon Wakefield in the jump-off.

A total of seven Austrians - including the amateurs Matthias Schwab and the reigning European champion Manuel Trappel - made the cut. As the best local, Bernd Wiesberger finished in shared fifth place.

2012 tournament

The tournament was brought forward to July 25th to 28th and ended with a home win by Bernd Wiesberger with a lead of three strokes. A total of five Austrians, including the amateurs Lukas Nemecz and again Manuel Trappel, made the cut.

Tournament 2013

With the same prize money, the tournament took place from June 6th to 9th and was won by Dutchman Joost Luiten . The best locals were defending champion Bernd Wiesberger and amateur Matthias Schwab in shared 14th place. Three more were able to classify themselves in the prize money.

2014 tournament

The 40-year-old Swede Mikael Lundberg won the jump-off against local hero Bernd Wiesberger. Five other Austrians, including the amateur Lukas Lipold, made it to the finals. The defending champion Joost Luiten came third.

Tournament 2015

The prize money was increased to 1.5 million euros, which means that the winner is guaranteed to play for the next two seasons on the European Tour. Englishman Chris Woods won by two strokes ahead of Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello . The best Austrian was the Carinthian Florian Prägant in shared 22nd place. Only Lukas Nemecz made it from the locals to the finals and finished in 73rd place. The high favorite Bernd Wiesberger failed after a very weak opening round by two strokes on the cut.

Tournament 2016

With the prize money again reduced to 1 million euros, only two of the 18 Austrians who started were able to qualify for the finals. The best local was once again Bernd Wiesberger in shared 10th place, while Lukas Nemecz finished in shared 38th place. Ashun Wu was the first Chinese to win.

Tournament 2017

The South African Dylan Frittelli celebrated his first victory on the European Tour, while the tournament favorite Wiesberger had to be content with a shared 15th place. The best Austrian was Sepp Straka , who finished seventh with five strokes behind. Matthias Schwab was split 45th, the former winner Markus Brier failed by one blow on the cut. A total of 16 Austrians competed.

Tournament 2018

For the first time on the European Tour, the tournament was held with a time limit of 50 or 40 seconds per stroke - in the event of a violation, a penalty stroke was added, whereby two timeouts could be requested per round.

The Finn Mikko Korhonen achieved his maiden victory on the European Tour. Of eleven Austrians who started (including an amateur), five made the halfway cut, one failed to make the second cut after the third round. In the absence of the injured Bernd Wiesberger, Matthias Schwab finished as the best local in shared twelfth place.

Winners list

European Tour Event
year	winner	nationality
2018	Mikko Korhonen	Finland Finland
2017	Dylan Frittelli	South Africa South Africa
2016	Ashun Wu	China People's Republic People's Republic of China
2015	Chris Wood	England England
2014	Mikael Lundberg	Sweden Sweden
2013	Joost Luiten	Netherlands Netherlands
2012	Bernd Wiesberger	Austria Austria
2011	Kenneth Ferrie	England England
2010	José Manuel Lara	Spain Spain
2009	Rafael Cabrera-Bello	Spain Spain
2008	Jeev Milkha Singh	India India
2007	Richard Green	Australia Australia
2006	Markus Brier	Austria Austria
1996	Paul McGinley	Ireland Ireland
1995	Alex Cejka	Germany Germany
1994	Mark Davis	England England
1993	Ronan Rafferty	Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
1992	Peter Mitchell	England England
1991	Mark Davis	England England
1990	Bernhard Langer	Germany Germany

Challenge Tour Event
year	winner	nationality
2005	Michael Hoey	Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
2004	Markus Brier	Austria Austria
2003	Robert Coles	England England
2002	Markus Brier	Austria Austria
2001	Chris Gane	England England
2000	No tournament
1999	Juan Ciola	Switzerland Switzerland
1998	Kevin Carissimi	United States United States
1997	Erol Simsek	Germany Germany
1994	Michael Campbell	New Zealand New Zealand
1993	Joakim Grönhagen	Sweden Sweden
1992	Stephen Dodd	Wales Wales