We return to Austria this week and the Diamond Country Club for another renewal of the Lyoness Open which despite schedule problems in the lead up to the first major of the year still turns over a fair field. This will be the 8th time on the trot this venue has hosted the event so we have plenty of information to go on. The course yields plenty of birdies and this week will be no different as favourable weather conditions await the competitors for the four competition days. Water does come into play on a numerous holes so it is essential to have a decent long game if you want to compete over the weekend.

Joost Luiten lines up as second favourite this week and is it any wonder considering his record around here. I successfully backed him back here in 2013 where he did the business and his three other trips to this track have resulted inf inishes of 3rd, 3rd and 6th. A very solid record and given his consistency over the past number of months he must hold every chance. The thing that slightly puts me off is his lack of contention towards the top of the leaderboard. He hasn't had a lot of that this year and even though he is very consistent lately I doubt whether he is ready to win at this moment in time. Similarly Gregory Bourdy, who lines up 3rd in the market, has three top tens here in his last three visits. He is another who finds it very hard to win though and I wouldn't be busting about taking the skinny odds on offer about the Frenchman.

There is only one way this train is heading this week and it is in the shape of the tournament favourite BERND WIESBERGER. His last six efforts here have resulted in one missed cut then figures of 15-WIN-14-2-10. It just so happens out of those years I backed him was of course the missed cut year. Lets hope this year isn't the same, but I can't see it. He had an awful first round that year and bounced back well on day two to narrowly miss the cut. As I mentioned last week when he won a few weeks back I thought that form was top notch and clearly Bernd is playing the best golf of his career. Whether he wins or not usually depends on the putter but with the win in Shenzhen he was knocking down flags all week. He has followed that win with a top 5 in China then an impressive top 15 finish at Sawgrass. A top 30 finish at Wentworth is fair considering the tall trees in Surrey wouldn't exactly be down his alley. He has a bit more room here off the tee and granted he holes his fair share of putts I think he has a tremendous chance of landing another victory in his home country.

The field here bar Luiten is very average and there aren't too many with multiple wins or even a victory to their name. This is a superb chance for the Austrian to become a second time winner on tour this season. With the 5/1 blinking away from us 9/2 is still fair. We will make this our only bet this week in the European Golf.

Bernd Wiesberger - 4pts @ 5/1