The Road to Mallorca heads to Austria for the inaugural edition of the Interwetten Open at Schladming-Dachstein Golf Club. Here are three men to keep an eye on this week…
Form horse: Rocco Repetto Taylor
Rocco Repetto Taylor arrives in Austria full of confidence after a life-changing month on the HotelPlanner Tour. The Spaniard took advantage of an invitation to secure his maiden HotelPlanner Tour title on just his second appearance at the Challenge de Cadiz last month and subsequently earn a year-long exemption via the winner’s category. The 22-year-old has continued to impress with a top ten finish at the Blot Play9, followed by a tie for 15th at last week’s Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge and he currently sits in 13th position on the Road to Mallorca Rankings. He will be hoping to capitalise on his rich vein of form with another strong showing at the Interwetten Open this week and strengthen his position on the Rankings with promotion to the DP World Tour now in his sights.
Local boy: Maximilian Steinlechner
Maximilian Steinlechner will be relishing the prospect of teeing it up in front of the home crowds this week. The Austrian impressed at the Austrian Alpine Open presented by SalzburgerLand on the DP World Tour earlier this year as he finished in 22nd position, which included a third round 64 and he will be hoping for another strong showing on home soil this week. The 25-year-old is currently 18th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings and is in a strong position to earn a DP World Tour card at the end of the season.
The outsider: Justin Walters
Justin Walters heads to Austria in a buoyant mood having qualified for The Open at Royal Portrush later this month after topping the leaderboard at Final Qualifying yesterday. The South African has been open about his personal struggles in recent years when he even contemplated retirement and he was in tears as he secured his place at The Open for the first time since 2014.
“It hasn’t quite sunk in," said Walters. "I have the Royal Liverpool flag framed in my bedroom and I stared at it for a long time two days ago. I just said to myself ‘it would be really nice to play again’ – and so here we are. I’m very happy.
"I’m 45 now and I was worried that I’m running out of opportunities to play on the biggest of stages. So, it really means a lot to me to get it done today."
