Local hero Alexander Kopp secures the final national wild card for the Austrian Alpine Open—on his wedding day

Alexander Kopp has secured the final national wild card for the Austrian Alpine Open. The Zillertal native won the wild card tournament in Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee, sponsored by Schön-Kliniken, with a strong round of 66, six under par.

This success is particularly remarkable for Kopp: The Tyrolean had actually ended his professional career in 2022. However, when he saw that the Schön-Kliniken, located less than 40 minutes from his home, were hosting a wildcard tournament for the Austrian Alpine Open, he signed up—as the very first participant.

“I’m incredibly happy with my result today. Since I’ve hardly played any golf myself in recent years—I’m truly speechless. I actually wanted to withdraw from this qualifier because I barely had time to practice, and today is also our wedding anniversary. I think the date gave me that little bit of luck,” says Alexander Kopp happily.

Yet Kopp’s round got off to anything but an ideal start. He carded a bogey on each of the first two holes. After that, however, the 33-year-old turned it on, carding eight birdies and ultimately, after a solid par, coming out on top by one stroke over Lenny Koch and Felix Schöffthaler.

Christopher Schön, who made the wildcard tournament possible through the support of the Schön Clinics, also competed and achieved a sensational tie for fourth place.

With Alexander Kopp, the 13th Austrian to qualify for the Austrian Alpine Open joins Sepp Straka, Bernd Wiesberger, Maximilian Steinlechner, Lukas Nemecz, Niklas Regner, Christoph Bleier, Matthias Schwab, Timon Baltl, Lukas Boandl, David Ennsmann, Tim Hofmann, and Jakob Lotschak, becomes the 13th Austrian to qualify for the Austrian Alpine Open.

The only tournament of this category in Austria will take place from May 28 to 31, bringing the DP World Tour to Kitzbühel next week.