Golf: The Austrian trio start the season

The first competition for the highest-paid successor to the European Tour ended prematurely at the end of November last year due to South Africa’s Omikron status. The prize money for the tournament in Abu Dhabi was given eight million dollars, and a few days later the next profitable event was waiting with the Dubai Desert Classic (also eight million dollars).

As Wiesberger then takes his third championship in the Emirates, Schwab climbs on board to Dubai. In addition to the DP World Tour, Styria also plays on the US PGA Tour.

‘There are a lot of points at stake’

Wiesberger left for the Emirates last week. “Back to work”, Burgenlander wrote on Facebook, after he “allowed himself, according to his statements, a longer break.” But the structure of Abu Dhabi has to be correct. Motivated 59th place in the world rankings. “Abu Dhabi is the start of my season, and I’m really looking forward to it.” The 36-year-old has used the past few days to get used to the cycle.

Since it starts with two big events, you should be ready early in the year. “It comes down to a lot of points and I haven’t played any tournaments in seven weeks,” Wiesberger said in an interview with The Tour. “The main goal is to be able to compete again as quickly as possible.” Ultimately, championship golf is the best form of training. “I usually played well at the beginning of the year. I also trained well at the end of last year,” explained a 2021 Ryder Cup participant.

Schwab Intensive Program

Wiesberger finished the championship in the UAE capital last year after initial difficulties in sixth place, with Schwab finishing ninth. Styrian prepared himself for the first tasks during the holidays at home in Rohrmos by skiing and touring. He is 164th in the world rankings with big plans and also wants to be successful in the USA. From Dubai (January 27-30) we go directly to the United States. The tournament at Pebble Beach in California is already on the program as of February 3.

“It’s about using your strength from day one and staying fresh – both physically and mentally,” Schwab wrote on his blog. The 27-year-old has been in Dubai since the beginning of January, after in-house and technical training was the norm back in the day. Schwab played 23 tournaments last year and has been backed by coach Ramon Piscansa’s status since the Olympics in Tokyo.

Schwab knows: “It’s going to be a challenging year of golf.” The biggest challenge away from the green will be travel and long distances. “So it will be very important to have a solid schedule for the championship and not fly back and forth across the Atlantic,” he said on a media tour in mid-December. “Because otherwise I might be exhausted after a month or two.” The PGA Tour rates it as being at a higher level than the European Tour. “The competition is tough.”

Pleasant surprise for Nemecz

For Nemecz, his debut in the Rolex Series turned out to be pretty odd: Styrian was actually pretty far off the list of substitutes for Abu Dhabi and was already on his way back after a week of training in Dubai on Sunday home from Vienna. Then it was reported that the chances of participation had increased significantly. “It soon became clear that the bag would only be emptied for a short time. On Tuesday I was in Abu Dhabi, during the training run I was told I was in the championship. That’s genius.”