Niall Lyons has four golf betting tips for this week’s Omega European Masters.
Omega European Masters 2024
Crans Sur Sierre GC in Switzerland once again plays host to the Omega European Masters.
This iconic layout is etched in our minds now after decades of this event and there's little doubt it's one of the most coveted prizes on the circuit.
Omega European Masters Tips
- 2pts each-way M.Manassero 33/1 (1/5 7) Paddy Power, Star Sports
- 2pts each-way E.Van Rooyen 25/1 (1/5 7) Paddy Power
- 2pts each-way J.Svensson 35/1 (1/5 8) Bet365 8 place market
- 1pt each-way M.Kinhult 110/1 (1/5 8) Bet365 8 place market
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With a short yardage and playing at altitude this course will be taken on my many off the tee and although driving distance hasn't featured much here down the years it's worth noting that Aberg and Hojgaard finished in the top five in that statistic last year whilst Mansell was 3rd the year before having ranked 4th in driving distance.
I'd favour accuracy though with Bjork and Rozner both topping that stat the last two years and making the top five. Staying out of trouble with plenty of water around key. It's really what you do from your second shot onwards here that will count and those who either hit plenty of greens or scramble well will feature late on Sunday afternoon.
This is one of the tracks that holds up previous form the most on tour and it's important to keep that in mind when narrowing down the field. That being said the last four winners have been debutants so ruling out those coming here for the first time would be foolish.
Here are the key stats for the last three renewals of the tournament.
Matteo Manassero @ 33/1 (Seven Places)
Matteo Manassero in his pomp finished 3rd here in 2010 and following some of the best form in his career to date these last 12 months he must surely be licking his lips at a return to Crans, his first event here in six years.
The Italian played extremely well through the bag last week to finish 6th at the British Masters and a return to this event looks to have come at the perfect time. The fact that Manassero is competing on longer tracks is a sure sign he is on top of his game and recent top 20s at Le Golf National in the Olympics and the Renaissance are a shade better than what they look on paper.
He ranked 4th from tee to green last week and is hitting his irons consistently well these last number of months. It appears to me that the stars are aligned here given how he has performed this season and akin to how Fitzpatrick looked here a number of years ago looks a shoo in to get into some sort of contention over the weekend.
2pts each-way M.Manassero 33/1 (1/5 7) Paddy Power, Star Sports
Erik van Rooyen @ 25/1 (Seven Places)
As we saw last week with Hatton, even if the big stars get into contention here over the weekend it is far from a foregone conclusion. Fitzpatrick has struggled a little this year and hasn't quite hit the heights of previous campaigns. I can let him win at this week’s price without much regret and I'd prefer to invest in Erik van Rooyen at three times the price of the Englishman.
Following his victory in Mexico last November it didn't quite happen for van Rooyen this year with a few near misses, most notably a runner up at the Honda with a closing 63. Up until his season ended after the St Jude he hadn't been driving the ball well in prior weeks but found some form with the driver there in Memphis.
His ball striking was good there and if he carries that into this event then he has a huge chance. He finished top 25 in the Shriners at altitude last October and so far here has finished 35-12-8 in three attempts. It would be silly to ignore his class and he may play with a chip on his shoulder having missed out on Presidents Cup qualification.
Jesper Svensson @ 35/1 (Eight Places)
My focus is primarily on the middle of the market here this week and another who catches my eye is Jesper Svensson. The Swede has had an outstanding maiden season on the DPWT landing a victory in the Porsche Singapore Classic as well as three runner up finishes.
His results are somewhat incredible given the fact his iron play throughout has been somewhat ordinary. He ranks 77th on tour in strokes gained approach this season yet he sits 3rd in the Race To Dubai rankings. With PGA Tour cards on offer for the top 10 this year he has plenty to play for in the remaining months and he could be one to follow in Mathieu Pavon's spike prints.
Svensson finds a way to get it round and this must be applauded. There aren't many, if any in the field who have had as much action towards the top of the leaderboard on Sundays this year and he may just become the 5th debutant on the spin to win this fine event.
Marcus Kinhult @ 110/1 (Eight Places)
One at bigger prices I'm happy to risk is Marcus Kinhult. The Swede has had a difficult year on tour but nearly solved all his woes at the KLM Open when he was edged out by Migliozzi in a playoff. 12th in the Czech Republic then 23rd last week at the Belfry are enough signs that this somewhat underachiever at this level has a squeak this week in the Swiss Mountains.
He has gone well here numerous times before with two top 12 finishes and has made the cut in all of his six appearances here. Has played well enough lately to warrant some respect at triple figure prices.
