European Tour - Omega Masters

Back by demand, my weekly insight to the ET and it's workings. This week will be brief as i'm a little out of touch but will pick up the pace again and resume normal service from next week

1.The Omega European Masters is the Swiss stop on the European Tour, and in 2009 became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour.

2. Michelle Wie featured at the 2006 tournament. Wie, has a sponsorship contract with Omega, accepted an invitation from the company to play in the 2006 tournament. At the September event she shot 78-79 to finish 15 over par over two rounds and finished in last place among the 156 competitors. European Tour executive director George O'Grady said on September 8, 2006 that Wie's appearance was "an experiment" and he would need "a lot of persuading" before inviting Wie to participate in such an event again, despite record crowds estimated at 9,500 following her over the 2 rounds.

3. This event once a staple of the top ET players year in year out, proof of this is in the list of previous winners and the amount of majors between them. It has in recent years suffered a little with the names drawn in, but has help some lesser known names prosper. However this year Crans is back with a bang with a whole host of the top names in world golf (yes all european but top nonetheless) playing e.g McIlroy, Kaymer, Westwood et al.

4.Crans simply the most beautiful stop on the ET, defending champ MAJ, will be looking to roll down the fairways with a Havanna and roll in some Putts and likewise young Matteo will look to go better than last years top 3 performance

It's definitely a course I intend to visit now I'll be visiting Switzerland more often, especially to view the 7th.

Whether the brief is... er... brief or not, it's much appreciated.

Was this course where Seve's possibly greatest shot was played? (over a wall, via a hole in the trees being the size of a dinner plate)

Nice one Mav - I've stickied it for you also (though you could have done that yourself!)

Mav,

Slightly off-topic but great to see the Senior British Open is reported to be coming to Royal Porthcawl in 2014.

Seves shot was there I believe a swimming pool was part of the problem.caddie tryed the 'your not Paul Daniels 'line but the great man was having none of it and I think made birdie to get into a playoff.
Looks a fabulous course.ball travels a bit differently

Davie - Forgot the sticky element thanks mate.

Kwini - Hadn't heard that yet so thanks for the heads up if the winds 'a' blowing the course will play tough.

I believe it was Billy foster who told Seve the shot was not possible and he should wedge it out in to play and try make Par only to be told, I know this shot and will play it over the house and swimming pool. Birdie made, porbably greatest shot in Tour history

Cheers, Mav

Skydriver wrote:Was this course where Seve's possibly greatest shot was played? (over a wall, via a hole in the trees being the size of a dinner plate)

Just watching Seve's reaction after that amazing chip at the end sends shivers down my spine... amazing stuff!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4LPLN5eU5I

Great starts by Kymer and Rors. Good to see Fasth up there, he's been probably looking lately at some of those around 40-year-old's that managed to revive their carreers recently (DC, Bjorn, Hansen, etc.) and would love to join them back at the top...

Westy's first five holes(!):

1. Par
2. Double Bogey
3. Birdie
4. Par
5. Eagle

Does lw1 really have two eagles on par fours?

Mercurio wrote:Westy's first five holes(!):

1. Par
2. Double Bogey
3. Birdie
4. Par
5. Eagle

6. Birdie
7. Eagle

8. Par
9. Birdie

Must be the altitude... Keep going Lee! Nice start for Matteo as well...
But what about Dougherty?! Now that's a bit of a shocker...

princedracula wrote:But what about Dougherty?! Now that's a bit of a shocker...

Maybe Di's given him the week off?

kwinigolfer wrote:Does lw1 really have two eagles on par fours?

Both are 300 mtrs driveable par 4s. And due the high altitude you are given 10% extra length. But nice anyway LW.

Can't work out what i'm more shocked at Nick D at -6 or Michael Campbell -4 through 9 holes

Maverick wrote:Can't work out what i'm more shocked at Nick D at -6 or Michael Campbell -4 through 9 holes

You said it man! I thought exactly the same.

Goodness me! 8-under it's just bizzare after 21 MCs in a row...!?!

But at least I can be 100% sure that no one else picked him in their FT either... Poor back nine for Matteo

Think Nick would just be happy to work a weekend for the first time in a while and to pick up a pay cheque. Di will be happy if he puts some food on the table for once instead of being a kept man

I recently jinxed poor Mr Dougherty quite recently, and don't wish to do so again.

So for the purposes of reverse psychology of an anti-jinx nature, I'll just say "There's still tomorrow..." [for both Michael & Nick]

I suspect Nick in particular may have been inspired by Oliver Fisher's recent win off the back of a pretty horrendous season.

59 alert!!!

Marc Warren -7 through 8 holes this morning.

Would be amazing to see it, would be the first ever on the Euro Tour.

Was reading that Marc hit all 18 greens in his final round last weekend. Must be in the zone!

Would be great a 59 but it'll be hard from here on, back nine look tougher...
Yesterday the front 9 played on average 0.5 under the par, while the back nine almost +1 over the par... Good to see Simon Dyson continuing his excellent form, the Irish Open win gave him wings...

Also happy to see Siddikur playing well here, probably one of his very first big tournaments outside Asia (I would think...).

Hoping for a big charge now from Lee and Matteo on the 'easier' front 9...

princedracula wrote:Hoping for a big charge now from Lee and Matteo on the 'easier' front 9...

Lee seems to continue with his slightly annoying mixture of hot and cold stuff, needs to bring back that great consistency in his game he had about a year ago... Coetzee with another second round charge, he has already two eagles today, before even going through those drivable par 4's.
Gonzo playing well once again, good to see it...

EmmDee57 wrote:59 alert!!!

Marc Warren -7 through 8 holes this morning.

Nice 5 bogies in a row to finish his round and miss the cut. Got to hurt.

Good finishes from Lee and Matteo, but they should really organise some fireworks in Crans Montana tonite for Nick Dougherty's achievement! Must've been getting harder and harder to listen to people like me mentioning all the time his xxxx-th MC in a row...!!

Just seen on the ETOS that there's a video of Di-Do interviewing yesterday's first round leader.

Nick clearly found it a bit weird, but from her tone you would never know he was her other half.

Smithers,
Looked like he fancied the interviewer! Lovely. Thanks.

Hi Mav,

Good to see the resumption of your weekly column. Also nice that at least a couple of Swiss have made the cut. Seems like home cooking for a number of English golfers. At least Kaymer showing signs of recovery. Nothing worse than a former #1 becoming inconsequential within a short period of time of being at the top.

They've mentioned Rory's putting a number of times on the telecast this morning. Is he also going to consider the belly putter?

It promises to be a heck of a weekend in Crans Montana, all 66 or so making the cut are within just 6 shots (at the moment, anyway)!

I love the way Miguel Angel really struggles with interviews conducted in English, yet speaks perfect English to his golfball. Good round today gets him back in the tournament, whatever language he's using.

Super weekend's golf in prospect, sadly I'll miss it. But another new name to me is Damian Ulrich, plus no almost as much about Bwana Gaga Bhullar.

Don't think I've ever seen a ball get closer to the hole and not go in than Bjorn's second on #18. Scarcely credible.

Pitty you'll miss it kwini. Two star studded LBs at the moment both in Boston and Crans Montana, which is great to see...

Great week for my ET FT as well, I have no less than 9 picks in the extended top 10 group, which is probably the best I ever had at this stage...

What a leaderboard, quantity if not quality.
But very pleased to see Fdez Castano up in the top twenty . . . . seems like he's well on his way back.
Not so good for King Louis, crown becoming a bit tarnished and likely to bid farewell to the top fifty this week. Hanson's position increasingly precarious also.

I don't remember seeing another LB in recent times with such dynamic and fluidity and numbers at the top like this one. Impossible to predict anything right now, but quite exciting to follow... No one seems capable to pull away from the pack right now. The rather unknown Swiss guy, Ulrich, can have as good a chance as anyone, and I assume that he has some useful, indepth knowledge of that course. But Lee and Rory are in a great position to get Chubby's stable back in the winners' circle.

Apparently Gonzo had suffered some back problems sometimes at the begining of the year and that kept him away for quite a while...

First tournament in the Ryder Cup qualification. Of the current top 20 in the LB or so you could already pick a fairly decent team.

Hmmm... Kaymer already two in front with 9-12 holes to go. Smells a bit like 'old' times when you would feel almost hopeless trying to catch him on Sunday afternoon... But we saw that here the back 9 can throw all sorts of surprises, so we shall wait and see... Dissapointed to see Lee again not following up in the same tone after a great round, so far anyway... Great to see Eddi coming strongly back in form and into contention.
But the LB in Crans Montana remains as fluid and intriguing as it's been all week.

Good birdies from Lee and Rory at the 15 to keep them in touch. But it'll be now all about catching Bjorn and it's going to be hard as they're all running out of holes... All he needs to do is to play it safe and his season will really turn from great to brilliant if he manages another win in consecutive weeks...

5-under in the last 5 holes! That's the way to finish a tournament! Fantastic by the Great Dane! And the first European leader in the Ryder Cup race...

4 victories in little over a year. Bjorn re-born? A new Vijay Singh?

As this has been sanctioned by the Asian tour as well, I'd have a special mention for my favorite Asian player, Siddikur from Bangladesh. This must've been the highest profile tournament he ever played in and to finish here in the top 20, top Asian player, after an excellent performance and four rounds under par is just brilliant! Hopefully he'll get more invites now to play on the ET in future...

Hi pd,

Agree. The ET would be smart to forward invitations to these relative unknowns with big potential. A win/win situation.

Bjorn aging like a fine wine or just restarting his motor? Where does this incredible past 2 weeks leave him on the ratings list? Should he be considered a top threat now for the R2D title?

Kaymer also must feel good about his form lately. And the 3 Italian musketeers in the top 18 is not news but a good showing. Finally, David Lynn with his 4th top 10 finish of the year is contrary to his 9 missed cuts in 18 events this year including 6 of his last 8 starts.

Next week's KLM in The Netherlands is starting to look better in terms of relevance leading up to the Dunhill Links in 4 weeks time.

pedro wrote:4 victories in little over a year. Bjorn re-born?

Or even Bjorn again?

The Bjorn Supremacy.....

Be interesting to see what this does to the OGWR when PD does the figures after the Deutchse Bank. Bjorn 3 wins in a year, back to back as well for 2 of them. This event will be one of the highest OGWR on the ET this year due to the field having LW, Rory and Martin Kaymer involved guessing around the 40 point mark for the winner similar to the 2nd place points offering for the Fed-Ex this week.

Maverick wrote:Be interesting to see what this does to the OGWR when PD does the figures after the Deutchse Bank. Bjorn 3 wins in a year, back to back as well for 2 of them. This event will be one of the highest OGWR on the ET this year due to the field having LW, Rory and Martin Kaymer involved guessing around the 40 point mark for the winner similar to the 2nd place points offering for the Fed-Ex this week.

Mav, I've sent a couple of posts about these yesterday on the existing/latest OWGR thread... I'll probably write the new OWGR thread for week#36 later tonight after DB is finished...

Sorry PD hadn't seen them will run my eyes over them now and see how it goes. Certainly Bjorn is on the rise again though

Been avoiding forum till I'd caught up with the final days viewing, all good now.

Had 2 golfing/5 skiing holidays there and love the place