Bernd Wiesberger Looks For First 2015 Win In Malaysia
By Les Bailey
Aug 10, 2014; Louisville, KY, USA; PGA golfer Bernd Wiesberger tees off on the first hole during the final round of the 2014 PGA Championship golf tournament at Valhalla Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Arguably one of the hottest young golfers on the European Tour who didn’t get a win during the 2015 Desert Swing, and will be heading to Malaysia looking to correct that problem, is Bernd Wiesberger. The youngster played well enough to crack the top 50 in OfficialWorld Golf Rankings, and becomes the first Austrian player in history, to do so.
The 29 year-old Wiesberger from Vienna hasn’t won since the Lyoness Open back in July of 2012, but has been knocking on the door since the new season started.
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With a fourth place tie in Dubai last week, a third at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, and a T6 in Abu Dhabi. He moved from 73rd in World Rankings(OWGR) to 48th during that period.
"“It’s great,” he said. “I was also the first Austrian to play in the US Open last year, and I hope it paves the way for a lot more to come.“I was 73rd at the end of last year so I didn’t think I would break into the top 50 so quickly. But I found out where I arrived here in Malaysia on Monday afternoon, when the World Ranking was updated, and I was very happy."
Wiesberger comes to Malaysia after finishing second to Lee Westwood here last year, and with a somewhat weaker field, has a great opportunity to pick up that win he was denied in 2014 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
He will however, need to work his way through a bunch of young European Tour players who are all playing well right now. And the defending champ, who played well in Dubai last week as well.
Lee Westwood played well in Dubai last week, and loves to play in Malaysia. A triple bogey at the ninth hole last Sunday took him out of contention, and relegated him to a T9 finish.
Also in Maylasia, he will face Graeme McDowell who finished T9 in his first outing since the Hero Challenge. The popular Northern Irishman has vowed to play better in 2015, and he has gotten off to a good start.
Also in the field this week, are the Frenchmen who are all playing well this year, and have added the January Player of the month Gary Stal to the mix. With Gregory Bourdy, Victor Dubuisson, and Alexander Levy all playing well, Bernd Wiesberger will need his A-Gameif he want to win in Malaysia.
Wiesberger got off to a good start at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, carding a 64-69 in the early going, and after a 70 on Saturday played with Rory McIlroy in the final round. He had not made a bogey until Saturday, but he made too many on Sunday, and Rory didn’t make any mistakes.
With all that being said, Wiesberger was the only player to finish in the top six in all three Desert Swing events, and has finished in the top 16 in nine of the last twelve events where he teed it up.
He has finished under par in seven of eight rounds at Kuala Lumpur.
Bernd Wiesberger has two wins on the European Tour, two on the Challenge Tour, and two on the Asian Tour. He is currently ranked 48th in the world, and 11th in Race To Dubai points.
He didn’t play in the Masters last year, and missed the cut at Pinehurst, but a T15 at Valhalla showed everyone he could play. He pulled a 64th place finish out of the Open Championship.
You can see the Maybank Malaysian Open on the Golf Channel starting at 11:30 Eastern Time Wednesday.
Source and Quotes courtesy EuropeanTour.com