The 2024 PGA Tour season may have come to an end but there is still meaningful golf being played across the pond as the DP World Tour continues on.
The European based tour takes to Crans Montana, Switzerland for this week’s Omega European Masters at the stunning Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club.
This event was first founded as the Swiss Open in 1923 and was first held at the Crans-sur-Sierre in 1939. This beautiful piece of golf-history has been the host of this event since.
The Omega European Masters has been a part of the DP World Tour since its inception in 1972.
The Field
With the PGA Tour season officially over, we’ll see members of the U.S. based tour trickle into the DP World Tour for the remainder of the season.
Matt Fitzpatrick, a two time winner of this event, comes over this week to lead the field in Switzerland with the likes of PGA Tour regulars Matt Wallace, Nicolai Hojgaard and Erik van Rooyen playing alongside him.
Of course, there continues to be a strong contingent of DP World Tour regulars who look to rack up coveted Race to Dubai points with just eight events left until the end-of-season tournament.
Some notable names teeing it up this week include Thriston Lawrence, Rasmus Hojgaard, Matteo Manassero, Bernd Wiesberger, Sebastian Soderberg and Guido Migliozzi.
Joel Girrbach leads a list of Swiss golfers looking to claim victory on home soil.
Ludvig Aberg is the defending champion of this event but will not be back this season to defend his title.
Other former winners of this event teeing it up this week include Lawrence (2022,) Rasmus Hojgaard (2021,) Soderberg (2019,) Richie Ramsay (2012) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (2010.)
The Course
Crans-sur-Sierre is one of the most picturesque settings in the world of golf as it provides a spectacular view of the Crans Montana mountain range at all times.
The course plays as a par 70 at 6,824 yards
Although the course was established in 1908, it has been tweaked and modified significantly throughout its life.
In 1999, a redesign was spearheaded by Seve Ballesteros. Another set of changes came in 2013 as four holes (10,12, 13 and 17) were addressed.
The biggest change that came in 2013 was to the par-three 13th hole. Lakes were added in front of the green and a seating area was added behind it.
Further changes were made to holes one, two, four, five, nine and 14 in 2014.
The fairways and fairway bunkers were remodeled for holes one, two and four. The tee of the par-four fifth hole was moved back 25 yards, making the hole a no longer driveable par-four.
The ninth hole was completely remodeled with changes to the fairways and bunkers. The green and green complex were made to be completely new as well.
Unlike most tracks on the DP World Tour’s rotation that are known for their difficult final stretch of holes, the real challenge this week comes at the start.
The first hole was once a very easy par-five here at the Crans-sur-Sierre but was changed to a par-four eight years ago. It now plays as the hardest hole on the course.
Holes two, three and four continue the difficult start as they rank fifth, third and second in terms of difficulty on the course respectively.
All of the fairways at Crans-sur-Sierre are sloped and are mostly tree lined. They are also average in terms of width when it comes to DP World Tour standards.
The greens also add to the challenge of this course as they are small and shaped like upturned-saucers.
Water is in-play on six holes this week as well. Those holes include ten, 12, 13, 14, 17 and 18.
Holes six and seven are short, driveable par fours.
The par-five 14th hole plays as the easiest hole on the course seeing 30 eagles recorded across all four days a year ago.
As this course sits at altitude, it does not play anywhere near the already short distance listed on the scorecard.
Therefore, there will be no need for driving distance this week and instead, will favor the fairway finders of the tour.
Since 2014, the winning score has been either -17 to -19 in six of the nine events.
In all, finding these small greens in regulation will be the key to victory. Golfers who do miss these small screens will have to get up-and-down to keep pace, adding an emphasis to scrambling.
Additionally, course form holds true here to this unique and quirky track.
The Weather
As of the time of writing this, we can expect some wet weather this week. Thursday currently calls for a 90-percent chance of precipitation, Friday a 40-percent chance, Saturday a 20-percent chance and Sunday a 80-percent chance. Sunday also is calling for scattered thunderstorms. Winds will be in check however, ranging between four-to-five miles-per-hour across all four days. Temperatures will be at the lowest on Thursday at 62-degrees before increasing to 71-degrees on Friday and peaking at 74-degrees on Saturday before returning to 71-degrees on Sunday. We can only hope the weather allows this golf tournament to be finished by Sunday because even Monday is calling for a 70-percent chance of precipitation with thunderstorms.
Key Stats
Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)
Scrambling
Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)
Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)
Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT) / Driving Accuracy
Par 3 Average Scoring
Par 4 Average Scoring
Birdie or Better Percentage
Bogey Avoidance
Betting Card
Thriston Lawrence (+1900)
Lawrence nearly got it done last week at Belfry as he finished runner-up to Niklas Norgaard at the British Masters. Beyond that, he also placed solo-fourth at The Open Championship and T2nd at the European Masters as of late. Lawrence now has four runner-up finishes this season. It’s about time he gets his fifth DP World Tour victory. Lawrence is currently first on Tour in SG: PUTT, 11th in birdie or better percentage, 13th in par four average scoring, 14th in par three average scoring, 15th in SG: OTT, 17th in scrambling, 23rd in bogey avoidance, 48th in SG: APP, 57th in driving accuracy and 63rd in GIR%. Lawrence is also a former winner here in 2022.
Sebastian Soderberg (+3300)
This will be our first time seeing Soderberg on the DP World Tour since his historic collapse on home soil at the Scandinavian Mixed in August where he surrendered a nine stroke lead on the final day. However, beyond that, he made the cut at the PGA Championship, placed T3rd at the Volvo China Open, solo-second at the ISPS HANDA Championship and T2nd at the Hero Indian Open. Soderberg’s one and only DP World Tour victory came at this event and course in 2019. Soderberg is currently first on Tour both in SG: APP and birdie or better percentage, second in par three average scoring, sixth in par four average scoring, eighth in scrambling, ninth in bogey avoidance, 24th in SG: PUTT, 33rd in GIR%, 82nd in SG: OTT and 115th in driving accuracy. The driving accuracy is a bit of a concern but he is the best on Tour when it comes to approach.
Jesper Svensson (+4500)
This is not the ideal course fit that we look for when it comes to picking golfers as Svensson is widely inaccurate off the tee. However, if we look at his recent form he placed fifth at Belfry which calls for a similar game. He gained on the field when it came to accuracy last week as well. He also placed solo-second three weeks back at the D+D Real Czech Masters. Svensson is currently 17th on Tour in birdie or better percentage, 31st in scrambling, 38th in SG: OTT, 43rd in bogey avoidance, 44th in SG: PUTT, 48th in par three average scoring, 49th in par four average scoring, 59th in GIR%, 77th in SG: APP and 149th in driving accuracy. We can only hope his recent form trumps his history of being inaccurate off the tee this week.
Jordan Smith (+4500)
At the beginning of the season, Smith was weekly at the top of the betting boards with some of the slimest odds. The season hasn’t shaped up the way the Englishman had hoped but he did refind some form last week at Belfry with a T12th. Prior to last week, he struggled between the Genesis Scottish Open, The Open Championship and the D+D Real Czech Masters. Prior to that however he placed T2nd at the BMW International Open. Smith is currently third on Tour in GIR%, tenth in both SG: OTT and bogey avoidance, 25th in driving accuracy, 40th in SG: APP, 41st in scrambling, 42nd in par four average scoring, 65th in par three average scoring, 106th in birdie or better percentage and 112th in SG: PUTT.
Adrien Saddier (+6000)
Saddier is currently 25th on Tour in par three average scoring, 30th in GIR%, 32nd in both par four average scoring and bogey avoidance, 39th in scrambling, 50th in driving accuracy, 66th in birdie or better percentage, 90th in SG: PUTT, 99th in SG: APP and 102nd in SG: OTT. Like Svensson, Saddier is currently in some insane form. He placed T5th at the Danish Golf Championship, T3rd at the D+D Real Czech Masters, T29th at the Barracuda Championship and T16th at the ISCO Championship.
Andrea Pavan (+9000)
The Italian has been in some decent form as of late, placing T25th last week at the British Masters, T42nd at the Danish Golf Championship and T12th at the D+D Real Czech Masters. If we look back to June however, he placed T5th at the Italian Open and T4th at the KLM Open in back-to-back appearances. Pavan is currently 15th on Tour in GIR%, 21st in SG: APP, 22nd in bogey avoidance, 26th in par three average scoring, 47th in birdie or better percentage, 50th in par four average scoring, 69th in scrambling, 82nd in SG: PUTT, 104th in driving accuracy and 143rd in SG: OTT.
Comments