Austrian Open 2021 R2
April 15-18
Diamond CC, Atzenbrugg, Austria
€1,000,000
Round 1, Round 3, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Alejandro Cañizares holds the solo lead after the second round of the Austrian Golf Open at Diamond Country Club where the cold conditions were once again at the forefront of players' minds.

Austrian Golf Open 2021 R2

"I struggled at the beginning," said Cañizares, "I then started hitting some great shots, I think the turning point was at the par three 15th hole where I made a long putt for birdie and that triggered it a little bit."

"I started doing very well after that, didn’t make many putts - that was the only one really"

"Overall it was a great round."

Austrian Golf Open 2021 R2

"I was trying to hit every shot the best that I could because at the start it was really cold and I was feeling it more than yesterday.

"The most important thing was to stay calm and focused and accept the fact that you’re going to be freezing cold and move the best you can with every shot."

Cañizares started his round with a one shot lead and dropped three shots after a bogey and double-bogey at the 10th and 11th. He made two more bogeys at the 17th and 9th but compensated well with seven birdies to post a 70 and hold on to his one shot lead over Martin Kaymer and John Catlin who also posted 70s.

Austrian Golf Open 2021 R2

"I would rather lead the tournament," said Kaymer, "but I think it was a decent start to the golf tournament, I would say. Today I missed a few opportunities and a couple of silly mistakes unfortunately happened, so I can build on my solid play and hopefully I can avoid a couple of mistakes over the weekend."

"For me, the par threes. I struggled on the par threes a little bit, especially with the tee shots on six
and 14. Those two par threes really play with my mind a little bit, I don’t know what it is, so I need to
figure it out over the weekend."

"Not so much on the range, but I need to find a way to actually hit a shot on those holes, not just a
straight six iron or a straight four iron, I need to play something; maybe a low one, a high one, a fade
or something, because the pin is in the middle of the green, there’s no danger left or right, it’s almost too easy. It’s too wide and you need to be very specific so it’s just something I need to focus
on."

"I think it’s very necessary that you act spontaneously on the conditions. The wind obviously affects
your golf game a lot. There’s not really one normal golf shot out there, you need to consider the
wind and therefore I think it will be really interesting how it will play on Saturday and Sunday."

Austrian Golf Open 2021 R2