Bernd

Wiesberger

The 36-year-old Austrian made his ninth start in the PGA last week, where he made his third cut in the event, although he did not match his best finish of T-15 in 2014. Wiesberger carded one subpar round at Southern Hills, shooting a 3-under 67 in the second round and finishing with an even-par 70 on Sunday. On the season, Wiesberger has made seven cuts in eight DPWT starts, with his best finish being a solo eighth at the Catalunya Championship in April. In five previous starts at the Dutch Open, he’s made three cuts with two top 10s – finishing solo second in 2016 and T-9 in 2017, the last time he played in the event.

The Austrian split 8-of-14 fairways and landed 13 greens in regulation today. Neither particularly worthy of writing home about, but his putter got hot by round’s end. He splashed home a trio of putts from outside of 13 feet including a 35'4" birdie bomb at the sixth. He walked out of the scorer’s tent with a +3.5 SG:Putting next to his name. His ’67' matched Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepks for the low round of the morning wave. Playing in his 29th career major, the 36-year-old is still searching for his first top 10 in a big event (T15 at the 2014 PGA Championship being his best).

This week marks the first of a two-week stretch in Spain, which continues next week with Catalunya Championship at PGA Catalunya Golf and Wellness in Girona. The Spanish events take the place of two previously planned tournaments on the calendar: Due to travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, the ISPS Handa Championship in Japan will take place solely as a Japan Golf Tour event, and will be co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour in 2023, while the Volvo China Open was rescheduled to an unknown later date. Both Spanish events have a purse of $2 million are part of four consecutive tournaments on European soil leading up to the PGA Championship. The 36-year-old Wiesberger, an eight-time DPWT winner, has made three cuts in four starts this season with his best finish being a T-12 in Abu Dhabi in January. Last months, he finished T-57 at the MyGolfLife Open and also was T-33 at the Valspar Championship on the PGA Tour.

The 36-year-old Austrian will aim to keep his cuts-made streak alive at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, where he’s made the cut in his last seven consecutive appearances and notched three top 10s. Overall, Wiesberger is 8-for-10 in Abu Dhabi, where he finished T-25 last year, T-8 in 2020, T-4 in 2017 and T-6 in 2015. However, this year’s event will be at a new venue, Yas Links, a par-72, 7,425-yard track. Last season, Wiesberger picked up his career eighth DPWT title, winning the Made in HimmerLand in May and became the first player from Austria to make the European Ryder Cup team in September. He made 20 cuts in 22 starts and finished off with a streak of 11 straight with three top fives including a T-5 at the BMW International Open, solo second at the European Masters and T-2 at the AVIV Dubai Championship.

The 36-year-old Wiesberger went 0-3-0 at Whistling Straits, but the experience ranked as a career best. “The most pride I felt was when I was announced by Paddy (Harrington) at the opening ceremony as the first Austrian to play in the Ryder Cup,” Wiesberger wrote in his player blog. “… There’s nothing that compares to it in golf. I’ve played all of the major championships, and that’s a different level success, but it’s unlike any other experience I’ve had before and one I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.” Wiesberger made 20 cuts in 22 starts on the DP World Tour in 2021, winning the Made in HimmerLand for his eighth career title. The victory also marked his first time successfully defending a title, as he cruised to a five-stroke win over Italy’s Guido Migliozzi. He notched two runner-up results as well, finishing solo second at the European Masters and T-2 at Dubai Championship. Wiesberger finished the season 49th at the DP World Tour Championship and 13th in the Race to Dubai. He made eight cuts in 12 PGA Tour starts with a best finish of T-4 at the RSM Classic in November 2020. Wiesberger, who’s qualified to play the 2022 PGA Championship and Open Championship, improved on three notable stats from 2020 to 2021, finishing 34th (92nd last year) on the DP World Tour in stroke average at 70.4, eighth in Greens in Regulation (previously 80th) and 19th in Driving Accuracy (60.79; 105th in 2020).

The 36-year-old Austrian soared up the leaderboard on Sunday at Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Fire Course, making five birdies over his final seven holes and carding a 7-under 65 to finish T-2 at 22-under 266, one shot back of winner Joachim Hansen. He’ll make his ninth start this week at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, where he finished T-36 last season and recorded a T-4 in 2016 for his best finish in the event. On the season, Wiesberger has made 19 cuts in 21 starts and earned his eighth career victory in May when he successfully defended his title at the Made in HimmerLand. Wiesberger shot 64 on the final day to win by five strokes. He also was second in the Omega European Masters, finishing one stroke back of Rasmus Hojgaard, and was an automatic qualifier for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup (0-3-0). He stands 10th in Race to Dubai.

The 36-year-old world No. 61 ended with a final-round, 5-under 66 at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid to finish at 14-under 270, five shots behind eventual winner Rafa Cabrera Bello. He’s among the betting favorites for this week’s Andalucia Masters, listed at +1800 via PointsBet Sportsbook, with world No. Jon Rahm out front at +300, followed by England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick at +1200. He finished T-31 at Real Club Valderrama in 2020. On the season, Wiesberger has made 17 cuts in 19 starts and successfully defended his title at the Made in HimmerLand, shooting 64 on Sunday to win by five strokes for his eighth career European Tour title. He was second in the Omega European Masters, finishing one stroke back of Rasmus Hojgaard, and was an automatic qualifier for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup (0-3-0). He stands 13th in Race to Dubai. Last season in PGA Tour action, Wiesberger made eight cuts in 12 starts as a non- member in 2020-21, with a best finish of T-4 at the 2020 RSM Classic.

The 35-year-old Austrian, who became the first player to represent his country in the biennial matches, went 0-3-0 at Whistling Straits, losing on Day 1 in a four-ball match with partner Paul Casey (2 and 1 to Dustin Johnson/Xander Schauffele), dropping a foursomes match on Day 2 with partner Viktor Hovland (2 up to Jordan Spieth/Justin Thomas), and falling 2 and 1 in his singles match vs. Brooks Koepka. Wiesberger, who made his Ryder Cup debut after qualifying via the European points list, is among the betting favorites in Madrid, listed at +1600 via PointsBet Sportsbook and just behind favorite and defending champ Jon Rahm (+205). On the season, Wiesberger has made 16 cuts in 18 European Tour starts with a win at the Made in HimmerLand in May for his eighth career title. He’s notched three other tops 10s in 2021 including runner up at the Omega European Masters in August, and he stands 13th in the Race to Dubai. In three previous starts at the Spanish Open, Wiesberger has made two cuts with a best finish of T-36 in 2011. His last start there came in 2014, when he finished T-38.

A decorated member of the European Tour, Bernd Wiesberger is one of three rookies on this European Team. Not only a rookie, but the first man from his country to play in the Ryder Cup, Wiesberger is excited for the week to come. When asked about the support he is receiving from Austria, Wiesberger said, “No, everybody is super excited in Austria. We have some great talent in Austrian golf. I think it was a little overdue for having an Austrian representing Europe in the Ryder Cup. I’m very proud that it’s me. I’m absolutely certain that I won’t be the last Austrian to represent Europe at the Ryder Cup. As you can imagine, everybody is really excited and looking forward to the week, as am I, to get going on Friday and put the Austrian flag on the European Ryder Cup team banner just as much as Viktor is for Norway and maybe even write a little piece of golfing history for Austria. Everybody is really excited. I’ve got a lot of messages, and hopefully - well, I’m sure there will be tremendous support from home, as well, during the whole week.”

The Austrian struggled on the front nine all week. He played the outward nine at 3-over while just four of his 16 par breakers came on that half of the course. The final day wasn’t the way he wanted to finish but he explained a little bit as to why his performance dipped today, “I’ve never felt like this on a golf course before. It was very high pressure. Normally when you play for tournament wins, you’re excited and you’re anxious on the first tee and you kind of improve into it as the round goes on. Today, I never, never let off and I just had to take deep breaths for every shot and I guess that’s what it means to be able to play for a Ryder Cup Team.” It will be interesting to see if he can calm his nerves at Whistling Straits and pick up some points for Team Europe during his team debut.