The European Tour heads from the Czech Republic to the Swiss Alps this week for the Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre, one of the most popular stops on the calendar for the majority of the players.
Sebastian Soderberg won the title in 2019 but the pandemic put paid to his chances of defending it last year. He finally gets the chance to do so this week and will go up against quite an open field for an event of this stature.
Recent Winners
2019 – Sebastian Soderberg
2018 – Matthew Fitzpatrick
2017 – Matthew Fitzpatrick
2016 – Alex Noren
2015 – Danny Willett
2014 – David Lipsky
2013 – Thomas Bjorn
2012 – Richie Ramsay
2011 – Thomas Bjorn
2010 – Miguel Angel Jimenez
The Course
We finally get to go back to the Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club this week after two years away. This course is up in the Swiss Alps and offers up some picturesque views so it is always a good one to watch on the TV with the wonderful backdrop on show. The course itself is a par 70 which only measures 6,848 yards although with the altitude it is at, it isn’t going to play anything like that yardage through the air. Despite a two year absence the course hasn’t undertaken any changes.
The defence of this course as well as the breeze high up in the mountains is the small greens which can be quite hard to find so we are looking for excellent iron players and ones with a decent short game because inevitably some greens will be missed and then it is a case of getting up and down. This tends to be a course for specialists so previous form round here can be a big thing. Distance control at altitude is another thing to look for.
The Field
Usually this tournament gets a standalone fixture in the calendar but the return to the schedule sees it come along in a slot where it clashes with the second FedExCup play-off event and the second tournament in the Korn Ferry Finals so I think it is fair to say that we have seen stronger fields for this tournament in the past. Nevertheless, there are five relatively recent winners headlining the field in the form of Bernd Wiesberger, Justin Harding, Sam Horsfield, Richard Bland and Calum Hill.
Last week’s winner, Johannes Veerman, is also in the field while there are a number of other players in the top 100 in the world with tee times this week. It is a big tournament for Victor Perez who is running out of time to make the Ryder Cup team, while Min Woo Lee, another winner already this season, Thomas Detry, Martin Kaymer, Daniel van Tonder, Andy Sullivan, Dean Burmester and Antoine Rozner are all in the field from the top 100 along with the popular Italian Guido Migliozzi so while the field might be lacking the standout star names, it is decent enough.
Market Leaders
The Made In Denmark champion Bernd Wiesberger is the 25/1 favourite for the tournament this week. That highlights how open and competitive things are likely to be here. The Austrian doesn’t have a great record here with just one top 10 in seven visits and he only has one top 20 finish since he won in Denmark back in May. He does need a big week here though as he chases a Ryder Cup spot but that motivation isn’t enough to lure me in.
The only other man who is shorter than 33/1 in the betting is Justin Harding, the Kenya Open champion who can be backed at 28/1. Harding went close to winning the Cazoo Open last month when Nacho Elvira touched him off in a play-off and he was in the top 10 in Northern Ireland a week later too. He is clearly in good form but he is a debutant in this tournament which might be enough to make a few swerve him here.
There are a quartet of players who are 33/1 in the betting this week. They are the Cazoo Classic winner Calum Hill, Sam Horsfield, British Masters champion Richard Bland and Thomas Detry. Detry is yet to win on tour and although a T20 in 2019 was his best effort here he doesn’t really convince me. I wouldn’t want a piece of Horsfield who putted atrociously last week but there would certainly be a bit of interest in the other two given their exploits this year. It is 35/1 bar those named.
Main Bets
I don’t know whether it will be significant that Justin Harding won at a similar track to this at the Kenya Open but the fact he is in good form anyway makes me think that he is a huge runner here. He could easily have won twice at that course in Kenya as he led the field through 54 holes the week after he won but the heavy run of golf in contention obviously found him out in the final round. He has no such problems with that regard here because he has had three weeks off since he almost won the Cazoo Open and then followed it up with a top 10 in Northern Ireland. He should be refreshed, he hits more greens than most and isn’t the worst putter so if he has his distances dialled in he could take a lot of beating.
Speaking of being beaten, nobody beat Calum Hill at the Cazoo Classic a couple of weeks ago and that win had certainly been coming because he had delivered four top 10 finishes prior to that, including the week before at the Hero Open up in Scotland so he is a player arriving in great form right now. I have a feeling that those two weeks in Kenya will be significant this week and so it might well be significant that Hill delivered top 10 finishes in both of those tournaments, only missing out on the play-off in the second one by a single shot. He’s in great form right now and is another who is striking his irons wonderfully so if he can dial in his distances he’ll be tough to stop here.
Outsiders
It was never going to be long before I got Jacques Kruyswijk back on the staking plan and the fact that he had two top five finishes in those two Kenya tournaments tells me this might be the right week to strike again. Kruyswijk arrives here in decent form too having finishes of 17-21-35-10-11-7 in the last six weeks. Kruyswijk is another who hits a lot of greens and generally putts well when he is on them as well. The driver can go a bit skewwhiff but that club tends to stay in the bag for most of the round on this course. Being a South African he will have tasted golf at altitude in the past so that shouldn’t be an issue here so he looks worthy of interest this week.
The other two picks are more course specialists who are overpriced if either the surroundings bring back their best form or they happen to find their best game for a week. Lucas Bjerregaard has fallen right off the top of his form this year but two starts ago he did finish in the top 10 at the Hero Open where he didn’t quite but the four rounds together and he started well in the Cazoo Classic before plateauing over the last couple of rounds. It might be that a return to a course where he has two top 10s in the recent past inspires him and he’s a big price if it does.
Scott Hend has failed in two play-offs here. He lost to Alex Noren in 2016 and Matthew Fitzpatrick in 2017. There is nothing of that standard in the field this year. In each of those tournaments he wasn’t outside the top five at any stage so clearly this is a course he enjoys playing at. He hasn’t really been a factor too often this year but he did have top 10s in Tenerife and at the Scandinavian Mixed so when it does all come together he can still be competitive. I’m hoping a return to a place he enjoys will serve him well in which case he could be a monster price.
Tips
Back J.Harding to win Omega European Masters (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back him here:
Back C.Hill to win Omega European Masters (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Betfred (1/5 1-7)
Back J.Kruyswijk to win Omega European Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 61.00 with Sky Bet (1/5 1-7)
Back L.Bjerregaard to win Omega European Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 91.00 with Sky Bet (1/5 1-7)
Back S.Hend to win Omega European Masters (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 201.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-7)
Back him here:
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