Omega European Masters 2024 Tips: Six to climb the mountain in Crans-sur-Sierre

Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard has looked a player with potential at this level since stepping up in 2022 and after a couple of close efforts so far this year, he finally made his breakthrough in last week’s Betfred British Masters at The Belfry. Where he battled through plenty of adversity during the final round, holing several lengthy putts on the back nine to beat Thriston Lawrence into second place.

The DP World Tour now moves on to Switzerland for one of the highlights on the calendar, at the spectacular Crans-sur-Sierre. As always, here are Jamie Worsley's Omega European Masters Predictions. 

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The Omega European Masters has been a fixture of the DP World Tour since the tour’s inception in 1972. It is staged in one of the most recognisable locations around, with every renewal taking place at the picturesque Crans-sur-Sierre in the Swiss Alps.

Seve Ballesteros is a big part of the event’s history and indeed the host course, having redesigned it in the 1990s. He has more wins here than anyone else, winning for the first time in 1977 and then became the first player to successfully defend the title in 1978, before winning for a third time in 1989.

There are six players all tied on two wins apiece in the tournament: Hugh Baiocchi (1973, 1979), Manuel Pinero (1976, 1981), Eduardo Romero (1994, 2000), Thomas Bjorn (2011, 2013), Alex Noren (2009, 2016) and Matt Fitzpatrick (2017, 2018).

Last five winners:

• 2023 – Winner: Ludvig Aberg (-19); runner-up: Alexander Bjork (-17)
• 2022 – Winner: Thriston Lawrence (-18, playoff); runner-up: Matt Wallace (-18)
• 2021 – Winner: Rasmus Hojgaard (-13); runner-up: Bernd Wiesberger (-12)
• 2019 – Winner: Sebastian Soderberg (-14, playoff); runners-up: Rory McIlroy, Kalle Samooja, Andres Romero, Lorenzo Gagli (-14)
• 2018 – Winner: Matt Fitzpatrick (-17, playoff); runner-up: Lucas Bjerregaard (-17)

Ludvig Aberg won the event in fine fashion last year, on just his second professional DP World Tour start. It was a victory that came amidst an extraordinary end-of-season run for the Swede in his first season as a pro, which also saw him receive an express call up to the European Ryder Cup team. Unfortunately, he doesn’t return to defend this week.

THE COURSE

Harry Nicholson designed the original Crans-sur-Sierre course in 1928, though as mentioned, it was extensively renovated by Seve Ballesteros in the 1990s. His synonymity with the venue, both from his victories here and subsequent renovations, resulted in it being renamed the “Severiano Ballesteros Course”.

Situated at high altitude in the Swiss Alps at close to 5000ft above sea level, this diminutive par 70 will play even shorter than its stated 6823 yards. The thinner air means the ball will travel around 5.8% further at these heights and the course will play closer to 6430 yards. It possesses 10x par 4s (324-530 yards), 5x par 3s (175-200 yards) and 3x par 5s (552-633 yards).

With views of the surrounding mountains at every turn, this is not only one of the most stunningly scenic courses on the DP World Tour, but anywhere in professional golf.

The sloping, densely tree-lined and predominantly doglegged fairways give the feeling of seclusion and tranquillity on many holes. Despite this somewhat claustrophobic feeling, the fairways aren’t overly narrow, ranking relatively easy to find in recent years. Having said that, they do often bottleneck the further down you go and with some strong strategic bunkering that encroaches on the landing areas, as well as those trees causing line-of-sight issues, they do need to be approached smartly.

There are elevation changes throughout, which along with the altitude can make approaches into these largely small bent/poa mixed greens very tricky. Most of the putting surfaces are crowned and repel balls at their edges, and though the usually receptive nature of them makes greens-in-regulation percentages high, they’re one of the most well protected, with some deep bunkering and chipping areas making Crans rank as the 10^th-toughest scrambling test on tour.

The course features many risk/reward opportunities, with several potentially drivable par 4s, and par 5s that should be reachable in two for most in the field.

Arguably the most famous hole on the course is the 331-yard par 4 7^th. A strikingly downhill hole with out-of-bounds long and bunkers surrounding the tiny green. Leaving with a birdie is no guarantee for those who find the greenside off-the-tee.

Water comes into play on the back nine, in-play on six holes in total. It hugs the left-hand side of one of the largest greens on the course, on the 195-yard par 3 13^th and guards the green on the 552-yard par 5 14^th short and right.

Players will finish out on the 402-yard par 4 18^th. Whilst this closing fairway is generous, it slopes heavily from left-to-right and brings the large bunkers to the right of the fairway into play. They will then hit an approach into a sloping putting surface that is protected short and right by water; with some impish pin positions possible, it provides an exciting finale to a fun week in Switzerland.

THE WEATHER

The weather look set to be fairly kind to the field this week, with thunderstorms prior to the event almost guaranteeing a receptive course. There is the small possibility of further storms over the four tournament days, but with little in the way of wind and largely clear, pleasant weather predicted, the players should appreciate the scoreable conditions when out on the course.

KEY STATS

• SG: Approach
• Greens-in-Regulation

With the likeliness of a low-scoring affair I’m going to keep things simple this week, favouring strong, precise ball-strikers and prolific birdie-makers.

Quality iron play is always a necessity here into the small greens. We saw evidence of this last year, as Ludvig Aberg ranked 1^st in approach and 2^nd in greens-in-regulation on his way to victory.

Thriston Lawrence also ranked 1^st in approach when taking the title in 2022, whilst the man he beat in the playoff, Matt Wallace, led the field in GIR.

Meanwhile, each of the top-3 in 2021 ranked inside the top-12 in approach, with winner, Rasmus Hojgaard ranking 11^th, as well as 3^rd in GIR.

• SG: Off-the-Tee and/or Driving Accuracy

The driver is often important here and the course doesn’t discriminate against steadier, accurate drivers, nor those longer but maybe more erratic drivers of the ball.

Last year’s renewal was a perfect representation of this, as Ludvig Aberg’s power saw him rank 2^nd off-the-tee when winning, whilst runner-up, Alexander Bjork was among the shortest hitters in the field but ranked 1^st in driving accuracy.

Rasmus Hojgaard combined accuracy (ranking 2^nd) with reasonable power to rank 3^rd OTT when coming out on top in 2021, whilst Sebastian Soderberg in 2019 produced a similarly controlled driving display to claim the trophy, ranking 8^th OTT.

• Birdie Average

The putter hasn’t been too important at Crans in recent years and whilst scrambling is difficult, the beneficial playing conditions means players shouldn’t need to call on their scrambling skills all too often.

It is a course littered with birdie chances and on a week where I expect the winning score to be low, I want to side with those best birdie-makers on tour.

CORRELATING EVENTS (COURSES)

BMW PGA Championship (Wentworth Golf Club)

Ranking extremely closely in all aspects, from average greens-in-regulation % to scrambling difficulty, the tree-lined Wentworth Golf Club has historically proven one of the strongest comps for Crans-sur-Sierre.

Notable Correlating form:

Alex Noren:

European Masters (1^st, 1^st) / BMW PGA (1^st)

Danny Willett:

European Masters (1^st) / BMW PGA (1^st)

Miguel Angel Jimenez:

European Masters (1^st) / BMW PGA (1^st)

Luke Donald:

European Masters (1^st) / BMW PGA (1^st, 1^st)

Richie Ramsay:

European Masters (1^st) / BMW PGA (6^th, 9^th)

Lucas Bjerregaard:

European Masters (2^nd) / BMW PGA (3^rd)

Marcus Fraser:

European Masters (2^nd) / BMW PGA (4^th)

Romain Wattel:

European Masters (2^nd) / BMW PGA (4^th)

Graeme Storm:

European Masters (2^nd) / BMW PGA (6^th)

Alejandro Canizares:

European Masters (4^th, 7^th, 9^th) / BMW PGA (4^th)

Hideto Tanihara:

European Masters (6^th) / BMW PGA (3^rd)

BMW International Open (Golfclub Munchen Eichenried)

Golfclub Munchen Eichenried is another tree-lined venue that plays similarly across all areas from a statistical point of view to this week’s course.

Notable correlating form:

Thriston Lawrence:

European Masters (1^st) / BMW International (1^st)

Thomas Bjorn:

European Masters (1^st, 1^st) / BMW International (1^st, 1^st)

Miguel Angel Jimenez:

European Masters (1^st) / BMW International (1^st)

Andres Romero:

European Masters (2^nd) / BMW International (1^st)

Matt Wallace:

European Masters (2^nd) / BMW International (3^rd)

Bernd Wiesberger:

European Masters (2^nd) / BMW International (4^th, 5^th)

Connor Syme:

European Masters (3^rd) / BMW International (4^th)

Darren Fichardt:

European Masters (6^th, 8^th) / BMW International (5^th, 7^th)

Andalucia Masters (Real Club Valderrama)

Whilst the challenge at Valderrama is more demanding, this tree-lined course has plenty in common with Crans. Driving accuracy percentages at the two courses are evenly matched and players are faced with regular changes in elevation changes, often into the greens which are as similarly tough to scramble around.

Notable correlating form:

Matt Fitzpatrick:

European Masters (1^st, 1^st) / Valderrama (1^st)

Sebastian Soderberg:

European Masters (1^st) / Valderrama (2^nd)

David Lipsky:

European Masters (1^st) / Valderrama (4^th)

Rasmus Hojgaard:

European Masters (1^st) / Valderrama (5^th)

Thriston Lawrence:

European Masters (1^st) / Valderrama (6^th)

Alexander Bjork:

European Masters (2^nd) / Valderrama (4^th)

Andrew Johnston:

European Masters (3^rd) / Valderrama (1^st)

Mike Lorenzo-Vera:

European Masters (3^rd, 6^th) / Valderrama (2^nd, 6^th)

Fabrizio Zanotti:

European Masters (3^rd) / Valderrama (4^th)

Antoine Rozner:

European Masters (4^th) / Valderrama (3^rd)

Adri Arnaus:

European Masters (6^th, 9^th) / Valderrama (2^nd)

Hideto Tanihara:

European Masters (6^th) / Valderrama (8^th)

Masahiro Kawamura:

European Masters (8^th, 9^th) / Valderrama (8^th)

Indian Open (DLF G&CC – Player Course)

As a tree-lined course with average-width fairways, frequent elevation changes and providing a difficult short-game examination, host of the Indian Open, DLF G&CC’s Gary Player Course is an interesting comp for this week.

Notable correlating form:

Sebastian Soderberg:

European Masters (1^st) / India (2^nd)

Matt Wallace:

European Masters (2^nd) / India (1^st)

Andrew Johnston:

European Masters (3^rd) / India (2^nd)

Jorge Campillo:

European Masters (4^th) / India (3^rd, 4^th)

Nacho Elvira:

European Masters (4^th) / India (6^th)

Gavin Green:

European Masters (8^th) / India (2^nd, 5^th)

Masahiro Kawamura:

European Masters (8^th, 9^th) / India (2^nd)

Betfred British Masters/2020 UK Championship (The Belfry – Brabazon Course)

The Brabazon Course at The Belfry doesn’t have the dramatic elevation changes of Crans-sur-Sierre, but as a tree-lined venue with risk/reward opportunities and a challenging scrambling test, we can see why these two courses have forged strong form-ties in recent years.

Notable correlating form:

Rasmus Hojgaard:

European Masters (1^st) / UK Championship (1^st)

Sebastian Soderberg:

European Masters (1^st) / British Masters (2^nd)

Thriston Lawrence:

European Masters (1^st) / British Masters (2^nd)

Richie Ramsay:

European Masters (1^st) / British Masters (3^rd)

Connor Syme:

European Masters (3^rd) / British Masters (3^rd)

Jorge Campillo:

European Masters (4^th) / British Masters (6^th, 7^th)

Calum Hill:

European Masters (7^th) / British Masters (4^th, 8^th, 9^th)

Soudal Open (Rinkven International)

Rinkven International is a densely tree-lined sub-7000-yard setup, with many risk/reward holes, drivable par 4s and ranks closely to Crans in terms of ball-striking difficulty.

Notable correlating form:

Richie Ramsay:

European Masters (1^st) / Soudal (7^th)

Alexander Bjork:

European Masters (2^nd) / Soudal (4^th)

Mike Lorenzo-Vera:

European Masters (3^rd, 6^th) / Soudal (4^th)

Nacho Elvira:

European Masters (4^th) / Soudal (1^st)

Matthew Jordan:

European Masters (4^th) / Soudal (5^th)

Jorge Campillo:

European Masters (4^th) / Belgian Knockout (5^th)

Marcel Schneider:

European Masters (7^th) / Soudal (7^th)

Gavin Green:

European Masters (8^th) / Belgian Knockout (5^th)

Made in HimmerLand (HimmerLand Resort)

The HimmerLand resort is a much more exposed venue than Crans but as a short, fun, scoreable course with a similar challenge in approach, these two events have developed noteworthy form-ties.

Notable correlating form:

Rasmus Hojgaard:

European Masters (1^st) / HimmerLand (1^st)

David Lipsky:

European Masters (1^st) / HimmerLand (3^rd)

Richie Ramsay:

European Masters (1^st) / HimmerLand (3^rd)

Bernd Wiesberger:

European Masters (2^nd) / HimmerLand (1^st, 1^st)

Alexander Bjork:

European Masters (2^nd) / HimmerLand (4^th, 6^th)

Kalle Samooja:

European Masters (2^nd) / HimmerLand (4^th)

Nacho Elvira:

European Masters (4^th) / HimmerLand (2^nd)

Ross McGowan:

European Masters (4^th) / HimmerLand (4^th)

Matthew Jordan:

European Masters (4^th) / HimmerLand (4^th)

THE FIELD

A good field has assembled for this week’s Omega European Masters, as some players return to DP World Tour action having spent most of the season on the PGA Tour.

Two-time winner, Matt Fitzpatrick makes his first regular DPWT start of the year and is the top-ranked player in the field at #27. Nicolai Hojgaard (#50) is the only other player from inside the world’s top-50 and there are a further eight from inside the top-100: Thriston Lawrence (#62), Erik Van Rooyen (#68), Ryo Hisatsune (#78), Romain Langasque (#79), Rasmus Hojgaard (#90), Matt Wallace (#91), Sebastian Soderberg (#94) and Jesper Svensson (#97).

Fitzpatrick, Lawrence, Rasmus Hojgaard and Soderberg are part of a group of six former winners, alongside Richie Ramsay (2012) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (2010).

Alexander Bjork too returns to DPWT action after a season on the PGA Tour; this year’s Amateur Championship winner, Jacob Skov Olesen gets another start on tour after finishing 5^th in the Danish Golf Championship two weeks ago; and Spanish youngster, Angel Ayora – last week’s winner in Poland on the Challenge Tour – accepts a tournament invite.

Omega European Masters Odds

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SELECTIONS

Market leaders: Matt Fitzpatrick 9/1, Rasmus Hojgaard 20/1, Thriston Lawrence 20/1, Erik Van Rooyen 22/1, Nicolai Hojgaard 22/1, Matt Wallace 22/1

Rarely a week goes by on the DPWT without me saying the event looks wide open, and with the recent form of clear favourite and two-time Crans winner, Matt Fitzpatrick a little below par, the same statement can be made this week.

You could make a strong case for just about every player from the very top of the market and it’s just outside the leading six I start this week. Having enjoyed an excellent and consistent return to the DPWT this year, I think this is the week that Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger finally re-enters the winner’s circle.

2.25 pts Bernd Wiesberger each-way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 22/1 

Wiesberger has only missed two of his 15 cuts this season and finished inside the top-25 in 11 of his other 13 starts. His best effort came when finishing 2^nd in the European Open and he enters this week having finished 6^th in the Czech Masters and 19^th in the Danish Golf Championship on his last two starts.

His tee-to-green game has been superb all season, ranking 4^th. He’s also 4^th in greens hit, 7^th in approach and has driven the ball solidly, ranking 38^th in driving accuracy. This strong ball-striking has enabled him to make plenty of birdies in 2024, as he ranks 38^th in birdie average on the DPWT.

Wiesberger missed the cut on his Crans debut in 2011 but has gone on to amass a good record since, including a best effort of 2^nd when he last played here in 2021. As a two-time winner at HimmerLand, as well as having several top-5s in the BMW International Open and at The Belfry, his comp form is strong and means he ticks every box for contention this week.

1.25 pts Ryo Hisatsune each way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 45/1

Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune has had a successful PGA Tour rookie season, finishing the regular season in 83^rd position on the FedExCup, which should give him every chance of holding onto his card next season. I’m hoping he can bring that positivity back with him to the DPWT, at a course that suits his accuracy-first ball-striking game.

Hisatsune has had plenty of solid performances in the U.S this season but by far and away his best of the year came two starts ago, when he finished 3^rd in the Wyndham Championship at the densely tree-lined Sedgefield Country Club.

That was a result engineered by a strong approach performance, ranking 3^rd and it’s with the irons he’s excelled most this season, ranking 24^th in greens-in-regulation and 65^th in approach. Combined with his accurate driving and reasonable birdie-making ability, he is a good fit for Crans.

Indeed, Hisatsune showed this on debut last year, firing four rounds in the 60s to finish 13^th. That 3^rd in the Wyndham shows exactly how much this type of course suits, as does a 3^rd-place finish at the tree-lined Muthaiga in last year’s Kenya Open, and with top-15 finishes on his only starts in the Made in HimmerLand, Indian Open, Soudal Open and at The Belfry, there are many reasons to be excited about his chances in Switzerland.

1.5 pts Jorge Campillo each way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 33/1 

Jorge Campillo hit the ball eye-catchingly well when finishing 6^th in last week’s British Masters and looks good value to better his 4^th-place finish in the European Masters in 2022.

Campillo has also recently returned to DPWT action following his rookie season on the PGA Tour and whilst not managing to match the performances of Hisatsune, there has been plenty to be encouraged by, including when he finished 4^th in the Myrtle Beach Classic back in May.

He missed the cut on just his second DPWT start in seven months in the Danish Golf Championship two starts ago, but he bounced back last week at The Belfry, finishing 6^th and was well placed in 2^nd entering the weekend.

That result was the product of top-quality ball-striking, as he ranked 1^st in driving accuracy, 6^th off-the-tee and top-25 in approach/GIR. He’s looked solid with his irons all season on the PGA Tour and I’m hoping he can continue that into this week.

He has played here 10 times and initially struggled, missing five of his first seven cuts at the course. He’s since made his last three cuts here, which included that best effort of 4^th in 2022.

We saw evidence as to Campillo’s suitability to this type of test last year, as he won in Kenya. He’s also recorded top-3 finishes in the Indian Open and BMW International Open, and with last week’s 6^th on the Brabazon Course his second top-10 there in five years, he has some extremely attractive comp form for the challenge.

1 pt Johannes Veerman each way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 50/1

Johannes Veerman hit the ball superbly at The Belfry last week, on what was his first start in six weeks. It was a continuation of some of the strong form he’d been showing through the middle part of the year and I’m hoping he will maintain it this week.

Veerman made his first 10 cuts of the season, over which time he recorded a season’s best 2^nd-place finish in India. Though missing three cuts in his last seven starts he’s still been showing up well, recording two 10^th-place finishes in the KLM Open and ISCO Championship, before finishing 23^rd last week.

His finish there was a result of quality ball-striking, especially iron play, as he ranked 2^nd in approach and 10^th in GIR, complimenting it with a top-25 ranking OTT. It replicated the type of form he’d been showing in these areas all season, ranking 7^th in GIR and 15^th in approach, and as a top-15 birdie-maker, he has an appealing skillset for the test.

Veerman missed the cut on his debut at Crans in 2021, though that effort did come immediately after he recorded his first ever win on the DPWT the previous week in the Czech Masters. His runner-up finish in India, along with 10^th-place finishes at Valderrama and HimmerLand, suggests he can handle the quirks of the layout and I’m expecting him to prove that this week.

1 pt Rikuya Hoshino each way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 66/1

Rikuya Hoshino also returned from a six-week absence last week to finish in a respectable 46^th position. He’s been hitting the ball well this season and with a recent upturn in his putting performances, he can kick on this week at a course that should feel very familiar.

Hoshino made his DPWT breakthrough back in February, though played very little following that due to some injury/illness issues. He returned from almost three months out at the US Open and expectedly missed the cut, however he hit a decent run of form following that, finishing 10^th in the KLM Open, 29^th in the Italian Open and 6^th in the BMW International Open.

Prior to last week, he last played in Scotland, missing the cut in both the Scottish Open and Open Championship. However, I’m happy to forgive those due to the style of golf and strength of the fields.

Approach play is the Japanese golfer’s biggest, asset, ranking 13^th this season and he’s also been solid OTT, showing a decent level of accuracy/power. As a top-25 player in birdie average, he has the scoring prowess to make the most of these potentially scoreable conditions.

Hoshino missed the cut here on debut last year but was in poor ball-striking form at the time. He has 3^rd and 6^th-place finishes at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried to his name, form that should serve him well this week. With this type of tree-lined course displaying many similarities to the courses he’s used to playing in Japan, I expect him to improve massively this time around.

1 pt Darius Van Driel each way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 125/1

Darius Van Driel won impressively in Kenya earlier in the year and with that result counting among a list of appealing pieces of form, this typically strong iron player looks a huge price to contend at Crans.

Van Driel is a two-time Challenge Tour winner and recorded his first win at this higher level of the DPWT earlier in 2024, winning by two shots in Kenya. Form has been a little mixed since, though he does come into this week after his best result since that victory, as he finished 10^th in the Czech Masters on his latest start.

His iron play has regressed a touch lately though it had been a strength of his game this year, ranking 12^th in approach and 23^rd in GIR. Whilst he lacks in power, he’s ultra accurate, ranking 13^th in driving accuracy and as a top-20 birdie-maker, he ticks several boxes for this challenge from a statistical point of view.

Van Driel has played here on three occasions, missing two cuts but finishing a promising 23^rd in 2022. He has several encouraging performances at similar courses at this level, including that win in Kenya this year, a runner-up finish at Rinkven in the Belgian Knockout in 2019 and other decent efforts at The Belfry and Golfclub Munchen Eichenried. However, it’s his victory in the Euram Bank Open on the Challenge Tour in 2018 that I like most, with host course, Adamstal another short, hilly, tree-lined course situated at altitude. That’s an experience that should benefit him hugely here and can help him towards a second DPWT victory this week.

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