Focus on Tour

Wiesberger decides not to take part in the Olympics

Bernd Wiesberger will not be teeing off at the Olympic golf tournament at Le Golf National near Paris. 

Although the Burgenland native qualified for the Summer Games via his world ranking, he will not be taking part. Instead, the 38-year-old wants to qualify for the final tournaments of the DP World Tour and get a PGA Tour card there. Starting in Tour tournaments would therefore take priority over the Olympics. "At the start of the season, I wasn't qualified for the Olympics and therefore didn't have the event on my schedule. In the current situation, I have to set priorities for my sporting future and I am therefore very sorry not to be able to represent Austria in Paris," explained Wiesberger, who finished eleventh at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, in a press release.

Fond memories of the course
Wiesberger has excellent experience of the course at Le Golf National, which also hosted the Ryder Cup in 2018. Nine years ago, the ÖGV golfer celebrated perhaps the greatest success of his career there with his Open de France triumph on the European Tour. Wiesberger had recently returned to form and finished second at the European Open in Hamburg at the beginning of June. His next starts are this week in Amsterdam, then in Ravenna and Munich. The professional golfer is also hoping to qualify for the British Open in Scotland in July.

Among the men, only Sepp Straka has a red-white-red Olympic ticket. In the women's competition, Emma Spitz is on course for Paris, while Sarah Schober is currently 60th and therefore in last place in the Olympic rankings.