Steve Palmer's Austrian Open final-round preview, best bets, free golf tips

Best bet

Joost Luiten to win Austrian Open
2pts 9-2 general

Story so far

Nicolai Von Dellingshausen and Marc Warren, 200-1 and 150-1 outsiders for the Austrian Open ante-post, are co-leaders going into the final round at Diamond Country Club.

The first post-lockdown European Tour event is wide-open with 18 holes to play, with the pacesetting duo at 11 under par and eight players within two shots of the lead.

One of the eight in the thick of things is pre-tournament 13-2 favourite, Joost Luiten, who is tied for sixth place, two shots behind. The Dutchman, who won the 2013 Austrian Open, is seeking his seventh European Tour title.

Thomas Detry is in 22nd place, seven shots adrift, having carded a showstopping triple-bogey at the 17th hole in round two. Adri Arnaus is tied for 55th place, 13 shots off the pace.

Leaderboard
-11 Nicolai Von Dellingshausen, Marc Warren
-10 Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez, Connor Syme, Darius van Driel
-9 Marcel Schneider, Joel Stalter, Joost Luiten
-7 Allen John, Scott Vincent, Craig Howie
-6 Adrien Saddier, Oliver Lindell, Philip Eriksson, Chris Mivis, Oscar Lengden, Renato Paratore, Miguel Angel Jimenez

Best prices
4 C Syme, M Warren, 9-2 J Luiten, 6 Von Dellingshausen, 15-2 D van Driel, 9 S Garcia Rodriguez, 16 M Schneider, 20 J Stalter, 40 S Vincent, 50 bar

Final-round preview

Nicolai Von Dellingshausen won three times on the Pro Golf Tour in 2017, including once in Austria in the Adamstal Open, but the 27-year-old German is yet to get off the mark on the Challenge Tour and would be winning by far the most prestigious title of his career should he triumph at Diamond Country Club.

For co-leader, Marc Warren, this is a less daunting denouement – the Scot has won three times on the European Tour. The last victory, though, was almost six years ago, and at the age of 39, without a Tour card, there is a fair helping of pressure on his shoulders, too. This classic swinger, twice a victor on the Challenge Tour in 2005 and a World Cup winner for Scotland in 2007, has largely wasted his great talent and let his career hit the skids.

Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez has won three times on the Alps Tour, but nothing better, and he has never beaten 49th place in a European Tour event. Perhaps the best value alternatives to Joost Luiten, then, are Connor Syme and Darius van Driel.

Syme, a winner on the Challenge Tour last season, finished runner-up in the 2018 Shot Clock Masters, the previous European Tour event staged at Diamond Country Club. From just one shot behind, fresh from a bogey-free third round, the accurate Scot should contend all the way for a maiden Tour title.

Van Driel, runner-up in the Belgian Knockout last year, won his maiden Challenge Tour title in Austria, then his second in Switzerland, so there is something about this part of the world which gets the Dutchman's juices flowing.

Expect Syme and Van Driel to go close, but the final-hole birdie for Luiten in round three may prove decisive on Sunday. Luiten was ensconced on the par train, carding eight in a row on a frustrating back nine, but a two at the 18th hauled the most prolific champion on the leaderboard to within two shots. Luiten may end up pipping Syme, Van Driel, Warren and Joel Stalter, much to the delight of ante-post favourite-backers.

The final threeball of Von Dellingshausen, Warren and Garcia Rodriguez is scheduled to tee off at 10.54am UK and Ireland time on Sunday.

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