The first day's play in the Bank Austria Open is under threat after torrential rain delayed the start by at least four hours.

The first group were due to tee off at 7:15am local time but heavy rain from 5am on an already saturated course has made play impossible.

Tournament director Miguel Vidaor said: "It has not stopped raining heavily since 5am and it does not look good for the rest of the day. Some of the fairways are under water."

If the first day is washed out as expected, tournament officials are still likely to attempt to complete 72 holes in the remaining three days of the event, but any further delays would probably result in the tournament being reduced to 54 holes.