By John Huggan
Starting only four days after the final round of the Masters, the Austrian Open likely won’t attract many of European golf’s biggest names. But news that the event—won last year by Scotland’s Marc Warren—will return to the European Tour, April 15-18, is a welcome boost for the currently beleaguered circuit. Late last week European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley was forced to announce the postponement of the Portugal Masters, as well as a reshuffling of next month’s schedule.

As things now stand, the €1 million Austrian event will fill the slot recently vacated by the Tenerife Open, which takes the place of the Portugal Masters (April 29-May 2), one week after the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open.

“Throughout the pandemic, we have had to be agile with our scheduling, and today’s announcement is another example of that,” Pelley said in a press release. “We are naturally grateful to Diamond Country Club and the Austrian Golf Federation for once again helping us to continue to provide a full schedule and playing opportunities for our members. Diamond Country Club [located just outside Vienna and hosting the Austrian Open for the 11th consecutive year] is obviously a venue that we know very well, and we look forward to returning there next month.”

In the longer term, however, things are not looking quite so cheery for the Old World circuit. With a third wave of COVID-19 already sweeping the European continent, the future is at best uncertain with regard to travel. Right now, the tour is down to visit France immediately after Tenerife, England just before the PGA Championship, Denmark, Germany and Sweden before the U.S. Open, then Germany, Ireland and Scotland before the Open Championship in England. That’s a lot of countries and, unfortunately for Pelley and his members, a lot of governments and different regulations to deal with.

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By John Huggan
There have been more than a few good things in the professional life of Marc Warren.

As far back as 2001, the now-39-year old Scot—part of a team that included Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell—holed the putt that won the Walker Cup for Great Britain & Ireland at Sea Island in Georgia.

Four years later, Warren’s beautifully rhythmic full swing carried him to the top of the rankings on the European Challenge Tour. Twelve months after that, he was Rookie of the Year on the European Tour, having won the Scandinavian Masters en route. In 2007, he was victorious again in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, a triumph that went a long way towards him qualifying for the two-man team that would represent Scotland in the World Cup. Alongside Colin Montgomerie, Warren won there, too, beating the United States in a playoff at Mission Hills in California.

All of which is pretty good you might think, especially when you throw in a third European Tour win at the 2014 Made in Denmark. But Warren has endured almost as many “downs” as “ups” in his 18-year pro career. Many opportunities have been spurned, most notably at the 2012 Scottish Open. One stroke clear with four holes to play at Castle Stuart, Warren dropped four shots over the closing holes to finish one shot out of the playoff between eventual champion Jeev Milkha Singh and Francesco Molinari.

Still, none of the above will surely matter too much now to the former World Boys champion. Not now that he has recorded his fourth tournament victory on the Old World Circuit. Having lost his European Tour card in each of the last two years—he finished 130th on the Race to Dubai in 2018, 205th last year—Warren is exempt for at least the rest of this season and all of next, courtesy of victory in the Austrian Open, which was co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour.

That fact was soon reflected in tweets from two former Ryder Cup captains. “He’s back,” wrote Thomas Bjorn. “Never say die,” was the tribute from Warren’s fellow-Scot, Sam Torrance.

It was an odd week in other ways, too, in what was perhaps a glimpse into a more impecunious—the total prize fund was a “mere” €500,000—and “new-normal” post-coronavirus future for professional golf in Europe. Many players, Warren included, were carrying their own bags. Every player was marking his own card. Only one caddie was touching the pin on each green. All very new on a circuit that was playing for the first time since the Qatar Masters in early March.

Anyway, with an erratic final round of 70 over the Diamond Country Club just outside Vienna—one that contained four bogeys—Warren made two of his six birdies in the last four holes to reach 13 under par and pick up the first-place check of €76,823. Germany’s Marcel Schneider was second, one shot back, with Will Besseling of the Netherlands next with an 11 under on the card. Two of Warren’s young compatriots, Connor Syme and Craig Howie, were among a four-strong group in a tie for fourth place.

“This is massive,” said Warren. “A few hours ago, I didn’t have full status. Now I’m in a winner’s category and can plan the year. I just need to keep doing what I’m doing, trying to hit one shape all the time and when I do play try and do that and try not to mess about too much.

“The last few weeks I’ve been able to get some good work done and get ready to play golf. Came out of it pretty refreshed. Carrying my bag this week probably helped tone it down a little, just going out and playing and seeing what happens. The result couldn’t have been any better.”

A little farther down the leaderboard, halfway leader Miguel Angel Jimenez’s quest to break his own record as the oldest-ever winner on the European Tour ended in a T-8 finish, five shots behind the champion. The 56-year old Spaniard matched Warren’s closing 70, but was undone 24 hours earlier by a third round of 77.

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By Alex Myers

The European Tour will take a major step toward addressing slow play when it implements a shot clock during the 2018 Austrian Open. Players will have a 40-second time limit to hit a shot at the June event, as first reported by the Daily Mail.

Here’s how it will work: A referee will follow each group and keep time. The first offense earns a yellow card, but after that, players will be penalized a stroke for each time over 40 seconds.

We’ll see what happens when this is actually enforced, but for now, players seem to be in favor of the move.

“What a brilliant idea, and long overdue,” Lee Westwood told the Daily Mail.

“It underlines how long 40 seconds is to play a shot and how ridiculous it is that rounds take so long,” Andy Sullivan added. “The sooner it’s introduced on tour, the better.”

David Howell, a former Ryder Cupper who heads the European Tour’s tournament committee, told the Times of London this:

“We’ve discussed it and agreed it should take place. Among the committee, we think it’s worthwhile trialling that week in those specific circumstances. The field is not the strongest so it can be shortened without doing anyone too much harm. That allows the opportunity to get around quickly, so that’s why it is that week.”

However, Howell noted that certain recovery shots — like those made famous by Seve Ballesteros — wouldn’t happen under such a strict time restraint. As a result, he doesn’t sound sold on the idea.

“You won’t have time to work out shots like that if you’ve only got 40 seconds, which is a big negative,” Howell said. “We’re not suggesting this is how professional golf should be in the future.”

This isn’t the first time the European Tour has experimented with a shot clock to speed up play. In May, the GolfSixes team event also had a strict 40-second limit, which was enforced when Paul Peterson was hit with a one-shot penalty for taking too long to play a shot. That tournament actually featured a big clock counting down like the NBA does above its backboards.

It was at another team event, this year’s Zurich Classic, in which the PGA Tour handed out its first slow-play penalty since 1995. The pair of Miguel Angel Carballo and Brian Campbell were docked a shot after taking longer than 40 seconds to play a shot twice in their opening round.

Before that, Glen Day in the third round of the 1995 Honda Classic was the last player to get penalized for slow play on the PGA Tour. More recently, 14-year-old Tianlang Guan was penalized for taking too long to play a shot at the 2013 Masters, but that event is run by Augusta National Golf Club and not the PGA Tour.

We’ll have to wait and see what effect the European Tour’s decision for 2018 has — and whether the PGA Tour will do anything to follow suit.

“My dad has said it’s been talked about in player meetings since he was a rookie,” Bill Haas, whose dad, Jay, was a PGA Tour rookie in 1977, told the AP’s Doug Ferguson earlier this year. “What are we going to do about it?”

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