Joost Luiten returns to the course upon which he claimed the second of his six European Tour titles this week as Diamond Country Club hosts the Austrian Golf Open.
The 35-year-old has a remarkable record at the Atzenbrugg venue, with his victory there in 2013 complimented by two third place finishes and two further top tens. Indeed, in seven appearances there, his lowest finish came last year when he ended up sharing 18th spot.
It is a record Luiten credits to the consistency of his game and a course which suits his eye, and the Dutch star is feeling good ahead of return this week for the first European-based event on the 2021 Race to Dubai.
“I’m feeling good, the game is good,” he said. “I had two weeks off, I’ve been practicing at home. I’m feeling ready to go this week. I’m using the practice days to get used to the conditions, it’s a bit nippy today!
“For some reason I like this course, it just suits my eye. You’ve got to hit the ball well, you’ve got to hit the greens so if I can play my game I know I can play well on this golf course and I know I can win on this golf course.
“It always helps when you’ve won in the past, you always go to that venue with a little bit more confidence and hopefully I can bring out on to the golf course this week.
“My game is always about consistency, hitting fairways and hitting greens and if I can putt well then I should be up there on Sunday which happened a couple of times. I couldn’t finish it last year but I think I’m very consistent with the ball-striking and if that’s there every week you’re never going to be far off scorewise.”
The weather is set to be cold this week in Austria, which usually plays host to the European Tour’s finest in the summer months, and Luiten believes that the chilly springtime conditions will make it a very different test this week.
“It will be interesting to see how the golf course will play this year because it’s something different playing so early in the season compared to playing normally in the summertime,” he said.
“We had some cold days back home, so I had some good practice but it’s also new for us, we don’t know what to expect from the course. It will play a lot longer I think but I think there will be a little bit less rough than in the summertime because it hasn’t been growing that much.
“That’s the little things we’ll find out in the practice rounds and I think the scoring will definitely be a little bit higher than normal because it’s going to be cold, the ball’s not going to go anywhere. I think you just need to accept that and play different numbers with your clubs and if you can really trust how far the ball is going then you should be able to do well.”
