Wiesberger surges to fifth place with a strong 64 –Straka and Steinlechner will play in the same flight on the final day

Bernd Wiesberger (Foto: GEPA Pictures)

Kitzbühel, May 30, 2026. – On Moving Day of the $2.75 million Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel – Tirol, Bernd Wiesberger secured the best starting position for the final round among the three Austrians. The Burgenland native carded a 64 (-6), his best round so far at his home tournament at the Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith Golf Course, and heads into the final round tied for fifth with a total score of 199 (-11). Wiesberger trails the leader, Japan’s Kota Kaneko (195/-15), by four strokes. Sepp Straka and Maximilian Steinlechner, who each carded a 68 (-2) on Saturday, are tied for 16th place with a total of 201 (-9), two strokes further back. Straka and Steinlechner will play the final round in the same flight on Sunday starting at 7:06 a.m.

After Bernd Wiesberger had described Friday as a “frustrating day” following a mixed round of 69 (-1), a look of satisfaction returned to the Burgenland native’s face on Saturday. Seven birdies and just one bogey resulted in a deep-red 64 (-6), propelling Wiesberger up no fewer than 25 spots on the leaderboard.

“I did a good reset yesterday and practiced putting a bit after the afternoon round. After that, I went to Schwarzsee and just relaxed. That helped me mentally reset, because today I had a completely different feeling on the course and was much more relaxed. A few things also went my way, which makes rounds like this possible. Tomorrow I’ll try to get back into my zone quickly, because a good start will be important,” said Wiesberger.

For Sepp Straka, things just didn’t click on Saturday. On the first nine holes, his long game wasn’t precise enough. That improved after the turn, but his putter never really got into gear for the entire round. With birdies on holes 10 and 18, the four-time PGA Tour winner finished with a 68 (-2).

“I had to be really patient today. I wasn’t hitting the ball well on the front nine. It was better on the back nine, but my putter was pretty off all day. If you don’t hit the fairways here, you can’t create birdie opportunities. That’s the goal for tomorrow: hit the fairways and make putts. It was frustrating today that nothing went right, but that’s just golf,” Straka summed up his third round in Kitzbühel with his usual calm.

Maximilian Steinlechner carded his second consecutive round of 68 (-2), during which the local hero recorded five birdies and three bogeys on his scorecard. “I played a very solid round. There wasn’t anything particularly special about it, but nothing was really bad either. The atmosphere was great again, with lots of spectators cheering every good shot. I’ll approach tomorrow’s round the same way I have in previous rounds—that’s worked out pretty well,” said Steinlechner.