# Markus Brier

Markus Brier (born 5 July 1968) is an Austrian professional golfer. He won twice on the European Tour and in 2008 was his country's second highest ranked player, behind Bernd Wiesberger.

## Career

Brier won the Swiss and German Amateur Opens in the mid-1990s, and turned professional in 1995 at a relatively late age. Nine top ten finishes, including five top threes, on the 1999 Challenge Tour earned him third place on the season ending money list and playing privileges on the European Tour for 2000. He retained his tour card through his final position on the order of merit every year, except for 2002 and 2010 when he regained it through final qualifying school.
Since joining the European Tour, Brier has continued to play in his home event, the Austrian Open, winning it on two occasions during a period when it was a Challenge Tour event. In 2006 the tournament was promoted back onto the main European Tour schedule, now under the sponsored title BA-CA Golf Open. In its first year back, Brier once again took the title, in the process becoming the first Austrian golfer to win a European Tour event. This win helped him to his then best year-end finish on the Order of Merit of 49th.
Brier's second European Tour win came in 2007 at the Volvo China Open and he improved his position on the year end Order of Merit to 32nd. He has also featured in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Rankings.
In 2012, Brier failed to regain his card at qualifying school. He failed to do so again in 2016 at age 48. He was the oldest competitor during 2016 Q School. Had he placed high enough, he would have been the oldest player to graduate to the European Tour via Q School.

## Amateur wins

* 1994 Swiss Amateur Open Championship
* 1995 German Amateur Open Championship

## Professional wins (9)
### European Tour wins (2)

| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
| 1 | 11 Jun 2006 | BA-CA Golf Open | −18 (65-67-66-68=266) | 3 strokes | Søren Hansen |
| 2 | 15 Apr 2007 | Volvo China Open$^1$ | −10 (72-68-67-67=274) | 5 strokes | Scott Hend, Graeme McDowell, Andrew McLardy |
$^1$Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour
European Tour playoff record (0–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
| 1 | 2007 | Telecom Italia Open | Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño | Lost to birdie on second extra hole |

### Challenge Tour wins (2)

| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
| 1 | 2 Jun 2002 | Austrian Golf Open | −21 (67-67-62-71=267) | 1 stroke | Gary Birch Jr. |
| 2 | 5 Sep 2004 | BA-CA Golf Open (2) | −23 (65-63-66-67=261) | 8 strokes | Roope Kakko, Lee Slattery |
Challenge Tour playoff record (0–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
| 1 | 2008 | MAN NÖ Open | André Bossert | Lost to par on first extra hole |

### Alps Tour wins (3)

| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
| 1 | 15 Sep 2001 | Steigenberger Open | −14 (67-66-72=205) | Playoff | Ulf Wendling |
| 2 | 20 Aug 2005 | MAN NÖ Open | −6 (71-69-64=204)* | 1 stroke | Francisco Valera |
| 3 | 14 May 2022 | Gösser Open | −17 (67-66-66=199) | 1 stroke | Clark Dennis, Lukas Lipold, Andrea Saracino |
*Note: The 2005 MAN NÖ Open was shortened to 54 holes due to weather.

### Other wins (1)

| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
| 1 | 20 Aug 2013 | Zurich Open | −8 (68-68=136) | 1 stroke | Javier Colomo |

### European Senior Tour wins (1)

| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
| 1 | 3 Oct 2021 | Farmfoods European Senior Masters | −5 (70-66-75=211) | 2 strokes | Ricardo González |
European Senior Tour playoff record (0–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
| 1 | 2021 | Scottish Senior Open | Thomas Levet | Lost to par on first extra hole |

## Results in major championships

| Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
| The Open Championship | CUT | | T46 | | | CUT | T12 | | CUT | | CUT |
| PGA Championship | | | | | | | CUT | | | | |
CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied Note: Brier never played in the Masters Tournament or the U.S. Open.

## Results in senior major championships

| Tournament | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| The Tradition | | | NT | | | | |
| Senior PGA Championship | | CUT | NT | T40 | CUT | CUT | |
| U.S. Senior Open | | | NT | T40 | T25 | | |
| Senior Players Championship | | | | | | | |
| Senior British Open Championship | T32 | CUT | NT | CUT | T53 | CUT | T29 |
"T" indicates a tie for a place CUT = missed the halfway cut NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

## Team appearances

Amateur
* European Boys' Team Championship (representing Austria): 1985
* European Amateur Team Championship (representing Austria): 1991, 1993
* Eisenhower Trophy (representing Austria): 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994
Professional
* World Cup (representing Austria): 2004, 2007
* Seve Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 2007