DP World Tour : Austrian Alpine Open Tee Times Leaderboard
Fan favourite from England, Andrew Johnston nicknamed "Beef" by his peers for his stocky countenance, has posted a season best -8 62 for a -10 total to lead in the clubhouse as the late wave tees off in the impossibly beautiful Austrian Alps.
Eight birdies out in 32 back in 30 on a clean card will be hard to beat today.
INJURY : A ligament and tendon tear in his thumb has sidelined him from competitive golf for over a year after a complex operation in Australia in 2024.
While he was off he was open about his mental health battles and his decision to get help. He has therefore focused on balancing his personal life. To help others he began a podcast Beef's Golf Club
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Andrew Johnston fired his lowest DP World Tour round in almost seven years to climb into the halfway lead at the Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol.
Andrew Johnston is bidding to land his second DP World Tour title, a decade after his first
After an injury-impacted few years, the Englishman is making his tenth start of the campaign on a medical exemption, after being limited to just 17 appearances across the last three seasons.
Boosted by a run of four consecutive made cuts, including a top-15 finish in Belgium last week, Johnston carded a bogey-free second-round 62 – his lowest score since the Scottish Open in 2019 – to reach -11 through the opening two days at Golfclub Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith.
Calum Hill overtook Johnston with a brilliant front nine of 29, but the Scot was unable to maintain his electric start as bogeys at two of his final three holes on the tougher back nine saw him drop into a three-strong group tied for second at -10 alongside Rafa Cabrera Bello and Kota Kaneko.
Since a 73 on the opening day at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship in Spain earlier this month, the fan favourite, affectionately known as Beef, has now shot under par in his subsequent nine rounds.
"Just hit a lot of good shots," he said. "The putter got a bit hot, which I've been trying to do now for six months. You know, when putts start dropping, it's a good day."
Crediting yoga as a catalyst behind his recent resurgence, the Australian-based 37-year-old added: "With the injury I looked at stuff that I could personally sort of be better at and I started going back into the gym and I felt really compressed.
"There's a nice little coffee shop in Perth next door and there's a yoga place next door and I was like, 'do you know what? I'm just going to wander in and have a look in, ask a few questions' and I found this yoga teacher and she has been brilliant."
Hill, a two-time runner-up already this season, became a father for the first time to son, Joshua, last month and he will hope to bring silverware back from Austria after putting himself firmly in the mix to contend for a third DP World Tour title.
Spaniard Cabrera Bello, who is a former champion of Austria's national open having won in 2009, backed up his opening 64 with a 66 as he aims to continue his love affair with the country.
Kaneko won twice on the Japan Golf Tour in 2025 as he topped their order of merit to earn exempt status on the DP World Tour for the 2026 season.
After making his Major Championship debut at the US PGA Championship earlier this month, the 23-year-old finished tied second last week at the Soudal Open.
Zhou of China, the DP World Tour's youngest member this season, is in a six-way share of fifth place after a level-par 70, with last year's runner-up Marcel Schneider, Brandon Robinson Thompson, Tobias Jonsson and French pair Alexander Levy and Tom Vaillant at -8
Austrian duo Sepp Straka and Maximilian Steinlechner are both at -7 four back of the lead, ensuring the possibility of a home winner is a distinct possibility.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
