Golf Central

1.) It's more important than the US Open
If you're Darren Clarke that is. Clarkey decided to skip qualification for next week's US Open at Torrey Pines in favour of Ausria's mountains and milkmaids. But seriously, the Northern Irishman had committed to the event at the Fontana club and didn't feel he would have enough time to prepare for the san Diego major. Since when has a professional golfer been too busy for a major?

2.) Keep an eye on Brier
If you're going to keep your eye on one player this week, you'd do well not to venture too far from local favourite Markus Brier. Born in, you've guessed it, Vienna, Brier knows this course like the back of his Knödel. Fontana GC is Brier's home course, he's already won the event twice when it was on the Challenge Tour, and won it as a European Tour event in 2006. And he's mates with the Austrian Prime Minister, so make of that what you will. It doesn't take a genius to work out that he'll be there or there abouts on Sunday... well that's what our Bet Detective is hoping, anyway.

3.) Aussie, Aussie, Aussie
There'll be a particularly strong Australian feel to this week's tournament, with Richard Green looking not only to defend last year's title, but become the only left-hander to win the same tournament back-to-back on the tour's history (strange but true). Speaking of Strange, fellow Aussie Scott Strange will arrive full of confidence in Vienna after his win at the Celtic Manor Wales Open last week. Rumours that the European Tour will serve kangaroo burgers and Victoria Bitter in the hospitality tent, however, are not at all true.

4.) Bring some extra balls
Players would be well advised to take their Speedos along with them this week; there's water pretty much everywhere at Fontana GC. We're particularly looking forward to seeing the Europeans Tour's finest take on the par 3 17th. Think along the lines of the 17th at TPC Sawgrass, but without an island green.. and in Vienna, not Jacksonville.

5.) Vienna: Home to the world's greatest snacks
There's much more to Vienna than the Austrian Open, however. If you're in town, you'll most likely find us sipping on coffee in one of the city's many Viennese cafés or tucking into a Wiener schnitzel, Knödel or Käsekrainer. Failing that, we'll be at Zentralfriedhof, burial place of Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert. We won't, at any point during our trip, be singing anything by Ultravox.