Bernd Wiesberger Wins Second Rolex Series Title of 2019 At Italian Open

Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger has taken his third victory of the 2019 season by winning the Italian Open at Olgiata by a single shot at -16.

With the win, Bernd Wiesberger also claimed his second Rolex Series crown of the year, after also winning the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in July.

The Austrian carded a bogey-free round of 65 around the par-71 Olgiata course, with a run of four birdies in five front-nine holes getting his momentum going.

He won by a single shot from the 54-hole leader, Matthew Fitzpatrick, who finished runner-up and missed out on a European Tour title for the fourth time this season, having also finished second at the Honma Hong Kong Open, BMW International Open and the Scandinavian Invitation.

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The pair eventually finished well clear of the rest of the field, with a five-shot span covering the top six. Kurt Kitayama ended the week in 3rd place, with a level-par round of 71 keeping him at -12.

A further three men finished the week at -11, five shots off the eventual leader. They included the second Austrian in the top five in Matthias Schwab, along with England’s Andrew Johnston and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre.

The leading Italian came in at -9, in a tie for 7th. Francesco Laporta slowly made his way up the leaderboard throughout the week, and the World No.329 eventually finished in the top ten at home.

He finished alongside Shubhankar Sharma and Matt Wallace, with a further five men in a group tied for 10th. The South African pair of Erik van Rooyen and Justin Walters, Slovakia’s Rory Sabbatini and Korea’s Jeunghun Wang finished alongside the second Italian of Andrea Pavan at -8.

After a dismal third round, Justin Rose recovered to the same score he was on at the halfway point. The Englishman shot a seven-over 78 on Saturday but reversed that on Sunday with a seven-under 64 at Olgiata to finish in a tie for 15th.

Tyrrell Hatton, Danny Willett, Aaron Rai, and Jordan Smith made it eight Englishman inside the top 25 come the end of Sunday evening, while Paul Waring and Ross Fisher finished just outside that mark.

First-round leader Tapio Pulkkanen eventually finished the week in a tie for 40th. The Finn carded a first-round 64 but then had three over-par rounds to drop down the field throughout the week.
54 players finished under-par for the event in Italy, but it was Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger that took home the title thanks to his wonderful final round at Olgiata.

The Austrian has had a knack of bringing out his best at the major events, with two Rolex Series crowns to his name for the season. He has also moved to the top of the Race to Dubai standings with the victory, becoming the first man to break the 4,000 point threshold.

Meanwhile, it was a fourth runner-up finish of the season for Fitzpatrick, who continues to get close, but not quite close enough to a victory in 2019. Can the Englishman finally get one in the final few weeks of the season?

He will have several chances up to the final event in Dubai in a month’s time. Next up on the European Tour, it is the Open de France, which will be held at Le Golf National, the home of the 2018 Ryder Cup.

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Leaderboard:

1 (-16): Bernd Wiesberger (AUT)
2 (-15): Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG)
3 (-12): Kurt Kitayama (USA)
T4 (-11): Matthias Schwab (AUT), Andrew Johnston (ENG), Robert MacIntyre (SCO)
T7 (-9): Shubhankar Sharma (IND), Francesco Laporta (ITA), Matt Wallace (ENG)
T10 (-8): Justin Walters (RSA), Rory Sabbatini (SVK), Erik van Rooyen (RSA), Andrea Pavan (ITA), Jeunghun Wang (KOR)

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