Olazabal gets late call for Austrian Open

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL has been given a late invitation into the Austrian Open in Vienna starting today.

The event was originally due to be played in June just before the US Open, but after the cancellation of the British Masters it went for a later date.

With a prize fund of £875,000 (€980,000) it remains one of the smaller stops on the European Tour and offers only a one-year exemption for the winner, so the addition of Olazabal to the line-up is a welcome boost.

The double Masters champion’s decision to play came too late for him to enter under his normal category, but not all the sponsors’ invitation spots had been taken and so he could be fitted in.

Olazabal has been battling with rheumatic pains again this season and has played only three events in the last two months.

None of them has produced a top 30 finish and he is down in 168th place on the money list.

Favourite for the title on Sunday is Soren Hansen, the Ryder Cup Dane who was joint third in the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Cologne last weekend.

Hansen finished ninth on the points table for last year’s Ryder Cup team and is back in the same position now.

The difference now, though, is that only nine rather than 10 qualify for Colin Montgomerie’s side. Europe’s captain has three wild cards, one more than predecessor Nick Faldo.

Bradley Dredge, runner-up in the European Masters two weeks ago and fourth in the cup standings, is also in Vienna for the tournament.