European Tour and Challenge Tour resume at Austrian Open

Austrian Open returns for both the European Tour and European Challenge Tour to golf after the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Joost Luiten (Picture Credit - Getty Images)

The dual-ranked Austrian Open this week marks the return to golf for both the European Tour and European Challenge Tour after the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 2020 Race to Dubai was suspended after the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters on March 8 and resumes almost four months to the day with the first of two events in Austria, before moving on to the six-event UK Swing through July and August.

Former Austrian Open champion Joost Luiten returns to Diamond Country Club, the site of his second European Tour victory in 2013, and is joined by one of the Tour’s most recent first-time winners in Oman Open champion Sami Välimäki.

Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, winner of the 2019 Open de France, and Swede Anton Karlsson, who won the RAM Cape Town Open on the Challenge Tour in February, are also in the field, alongside Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiménez, who is making his 705th European Tour start this week, just one appearance behind Sam Torrance’s record which has stood for a decade.

Meanwhile, Scot Connor Syme recorded his best European Tour finish so far at this golf course in 2018, finishing runner-up to Finn Mikko Korhonen at the innovative Shot Clock Masters.

As per all events on the reshaped 2020 Race to Dubai, the Austrian Open will be governed by the European Tour’s comprehensive Health Strategy, which will see healthcare specialists Cignpost deliver rapid on-site COVID-19 screening.

In order to help mitigate risk, all players, caddies and on-site personnel will be tested, and participants will operate within national public health guidelines, including social distancing and following enhanced hygiene directives.

European Tour Release, July 09, 2020