Omega European Masters 2024 Preview, Picks & Analysis
By: Derek Clements | Mon 02 Sep 2024
MIGUEL Angel Jimenez will tee it up at the Omega European Masters for the 34th time at Crans-sur-Sierre this week.
One of the most colourful characters ever to grace European golf, the Spaniard will this year take on the role of tournament ambassador and, at the same time, the role of Omega brand ambassador.
Jimenez has played in more than 720 tournaments on the DP World Tour, winning 21 titles, and he also has 13 victories on the PGA Tour Champions.
He remains the oldest European player to have won a DP World Tour event at the age of 50 years and 133 days - the 2014 Open de España. And make no mistake, he can still play and remains fiercely competitive. Cans-sur-Sierre is located high in the Alps, which means the ball travels further - and that favours shorter hitters such as Jimenez.
The European Masters holds a special place in 60-year-old Jiménez's heart. A winner in 2010, he will return to the Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club with memories both on and off the Severiano Ballesteros course. He said: "This is my favourite place to play golf, and I love coming back here every year. Just look around to understand what I love about this place. I don't know how many years I have left but as long as I feel capable of making birdies, you will find me at the Omega European Masters."
However, the star attraction will be former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who is looking to win the event for a third time. The Englishman will be making his eighth appearance as he goes in search of his 10th DP World Tour title.
Fitzpatrick claimed his maiden Major title at the 2022 U.S. Open and was part of the victorious European Ryder Cup team in Rome last year and became the first player in 40 years since Ballesteros to defend his title in 2018.
Having finished in a tie for third last year, victory this week would see Fitzpatrick join Ballesteros, Harold Henning from South Africa, and Dai Rees from England to have secured a hat-trick of titles in the tournament’s long history.
He missed out on the Tour Championship on the PGA Tour and so will arrive in Switzerland fresh and raring to go as he begins the task of accumulating Ryder Cup points for the match against the USA in New York in 12 months time.
Sebastian Söderberg will return to the scene of his breakthrough DP World Tour win as he continues an impressive season. The Swede memorably won a five-man play-off that included Rory McIlroy to claim his first and only DP World Tour title to date in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, five years ago.
Söderberg, who has been sidelined over recent weeks through injury, sits fourth on the Race to Dubai after registering seven top tens, including runner-up finishes in Sweden, Japan and India.
He will be joined at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club by England’s Matt Wallace, who finished runner-up to Thriston Lawrence in 2022.
Wallace has enjoyed success on both the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour, with his breakout year being 2018, with three wins on the DP World Tour.
He claimed his first victory on the PGA Tour at the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic last year. Desperate to make the European RyderCup team, Wallace has admitted that he has struggled to balance life on both sides of the Atlantic but he is a hugely talented golfer and this is a golf course that should be made for him.
That same applies to South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen, who represented his country at the Olympic Games in Paris. After finishing inside the top 15 in the 2017 Challenge Tour Rankings he graduated to the DP World Tour, and excelled during that season with five top 10 finishes seeing him earn the 2018 Graduate of the Year award.
He won twice in 2017, first on the Sunshine Tour at the Eye of Africa PGA Championship and then on the Challenge Tour at the Hainan Open.
Van Rooyen secured his maiden DP World Tour title at the 2019 Scandinavian Invitation, holding off the challenges of Ryder Cup players Fitzpatrick and Henrik Stenson, among others, and holed a 15-foot birdie putt at the last to win by one.
He then won his first PGA Tour title at the 2021 Barracuda Championship, finishing five points ahead of Andrew Putnam in the Modified Stableford format.
One of the big incentives for DP World Tour players is the 10 PGA Tour cards on offer at the end of the season. Nicolai Hojgaard was one of the beneficiaries in 2023 and did enough to retain his playing rights and he will also ne in action this week. Still only 23 years of age, Hojgaard already has three DP World Tour wins to his name and sits just outside the top 50 in the world rankings. He made the cut at each of the US PGA, US Open and Open Championship and is quite clearly a world-class golfer.
Twelve months ago, Ludvig Aberg shot a final round of 64 to win the event by two strokes.
There had been considerable noise surrounding Aberg since he turned professional in the summer after reaching the top of the amateur golf world rankings. He had played in just a handful of tournaments as a pro but finished fourth at the Czech Masters the previous week, and this victory was enough to persuade Luke Donald to pick Aberg for the Ryder Cup - even though he had never even played in a major.
Fitzpatrick was the 54-hole leader and stayed in front for most of the day before falling back into a tie for third place with Scotland’s Connor Syme. But he did enough to secure his place as an automatic selection for the team. Robert MacIntyre also claimed his place despite finishing well down the field.
Alexander Bjoerk, another on the fringes of Ryder Cup election closed with a 66 to end the week in second place.
Aberg recovered from bogeying his opening hole to fire seven birdies - including four in a row from the 14th - in a final-round 64 that saw him end on 19 under.
A tee shot to five feet at the eighth and a delicate up-and-down on the ninth saw Aberg turn in 33, although he still had work to do to catch Fitzpatrick at that stage.
Four successive pars on the inward nine looked to have ended his chances, but Aberg had other ideas as he cashed in on the back-to-back par-five 14th and 15th, rolled in a 15 footer on the 16th and stiffed his approach to tap-in range at the 17th.
“I don't even know where to start, it's a pretty surreal feeling to be honest,” Aberg said. “Obviously super, super happy. I've always had that belief that I've been able to do it, but to do it is pretty cool. I made a nice six, seven footer on 14 and that was a big moment for me. I needed to take care of the par fives and I did today.”
Tournament Winners
It was won in 2015 by Danny Willett, in 2016 by Alex Noren, in 2017 and 2018 by Matthew Fitzpatrick, in 2019 by Sebastian Soderberg, in 2021 by Rasmus Hojgaard, in 2022 by Thriston Lawrence and last year by Ludvig Aberg. There was no tournament in 2020 because of the pandemic.
The Course
Crans-sur-Sierre is arguably the most beautiful golf course visited by the DP World Tour. Set in the Alps, it affords spectacular views. It is a par 70 measuring just 6,824 yards, which means that anybody with designs of victory here knows they are going to have to go low. The fairways are tree-lined, which means that accuracy from the tee is a requirement. Thriston Lawrence’s winning total last year was 262. This is a course that offers the chance for somebody to record a 59.
Form Guide
Sebastian Soderberg is enjoying a fine season and has his eyes on a coveted PGA Tour card. The only thing missing from his CV in 2024 is a victory. He is a former winner here and will have plenty of positive feelings about this week
Top Picks
To win:
Sebastian Soderberg. Only missing a win in 2024
Each way:
Matt Fitzpatrick. Could do with a win in what has been a disappointing season
Each way:
Matt Wallace. Can go really low
Five To Follow
Sebastian Soderberg. Underrated
Matt Fitzpatrick. Adores this place
Matt Wallace. Exciting golfer
Nicolai Hojgaard. Massively gifted
Erik van Rooyen. Sweet swing
Five Outsiders To Watch
Miguel Angel Jimenez. The great entertainer
Nicolas Colsaerts. Still hits it a mile
Calum Hill. Underachiever
Eddie Pepperell. Looking for a big finish to the season
Francesco Molinari. Still searching for something
Photo Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography
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Tags: european tour dp world tour
