Golf

Zhou flying high in Austria with eagle putt finish

By AAP Newswire

May 29, 2026

Portugal's Ricardo Gouveia trails Yahan Zhou by a shot at the Austrian Alpine Open. -AAP Image

Teenage rookie Yanhan Zhou's brilliant eight-under-par 62 earned him the first-round lead at the Austrian Alpine Open in Kitzbuhel.

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The Chinese, who only turned 18 last month, came home in 30 with four birdies in six holes after the turn, holing a 32ft eagle putt at his last to finish in style.

There was modest cheer for the Australian contingent with Jason Scriviner proving the pick with a 66 that left him four shots off the lead and in a share of 17th place.

Austin Bautista was well down the leaderboard, nine shots adrift of the frontrunner, with Anthony Quayle and David Micheluzzi a further shot behind.

Starting at the 10th, Zhou went out in a two-under 34 but found a scoring run over the last nine holes to equal his previous best DP World Tour score of 62, which he shot in the Volvo China Open a month ago.

It gave him a one-stroke lead over Portugal's Ricardo Gouveia, who had eight birdies and a bogey in his 63.

Zhou, playing in his 12th DP World Tour event but only his seventh outside of his homeland, won seven times last year – more than world No.1 Scottie Scheffler – to earn promotion from the China Tour.