Straka opens with a 67 in Kitzbühel – Steinlechner shines with a round of 65

Kitzbühel, May 28, 2026. – The scene at 7:50 a.m. on Thursday morning at the Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith Golf Course was truly spine-tingling! A large crowd had gathered at the 10th tee to witness the first tee shot by local star golfer Sepp Straka at the Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel – Tirol. Five hours later, the four-time PGA Tour winner turned in his scorecard with a 67 (-3) and raved about the tremendous fan support during his first tournament round in Austria in eight years. Local Tyrolean hero Maximilian Steinlechner got off to a strong start, putting himself in a good position for the rest of his home tournament with a round of 65 (-5).

Outwardly calm as usual, but inwardly a bit unsettled, as he noted after the round, Straka hit a shot into the water on his very first hole while approaching the 10th green. However, after taking the required penalty stroke and making a good approach shot, Straka saved par to the cheers of the spectators. The crowd favorite then had to exercise patience until his eleventh hole. He followed up his birdie on the par-4 second hole with two more birdies, before two bogeys sent him back in the wrong direction. With two birdies on holes 7 and 9, he ultimately posted a solid 67 (-3).

“The support today was really great right from the start. It was an early tee time, after all, but there were still a lot of people there cheering me on. That was very important; I felt that energy and needed it, because my game wasn’t quite there at the beginning. But after every putt I sank and a good iron shot close to the hole, there was wild cheering. I’m very happy with the score; my short game, in particular, was really good. After a bit of a rough start, I felt more and more comfortable on the back nine,” Straka summarized his day on the course.

Local hero Maximilian Steinlechner put in a stellar performance on his opening round. The Tyrolean recorded no fewer than eight birdies, so even a bogey and a double bogey didn’t weigh too heavily on the result. “Cool atmosphere, the weather was good too—let’s keep it up,” said Steinlechner, who is also taking it in stride that this year’s home DP World Tour tournament is being held in his immediate home region. “I’m just enjoying the fact that the Austrian Alpine Open is taking place in Tyrol this year, so I’m definitely not stressing about it,” said Steinlechner, who still has high hopes for himself this week.

“I know I can compete at the top in terms of my game, but there’s still a lot of golf ahead of me. Now the goal is to pick up tomorrow where I left off today.”

Of the other Austrians who teed off on Thursday morning, Tyrolean Alexander Kopp carded an impressive 69 (-1) back at the clubhouse. Amateurs Jakob Lotschak, Tim Hofmann (both 72/+2), and David Ennsmann (74/+4) all shot rounds over par.