Purse: €2 million (€340,000 to the winner)
Where: Crans Montana, Switzerland
The course: Crans-Sur-Sierre Golf club – 6,824 yards, par 70. One of the most beautiful and picturesque layouts in the world the course is located in the Swiss Alps. Opened in 1908, there has been a European Tour tournament staged there every year since 1972 except for 2020 when it was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The late Seve Ballesteros redesigned the course in 1999, creating lots of run-off areas around the greens to make getting up and down a great deal trickier. There are two drivable par-fours on the front fine, while there are three par-fives and five par-threes in total. The ball flies further than normal at altitude but hitting the firm greens is tricky and missing them places a huge stress on the short game. The fact that Miguel Angel Jimenez and Matt Fitzpatrick have both won this tournament twice apiece, illustrates the type of player suited to the course.
The field: Miguel Angel Jimenez (twice), Richie Ramsay, Danny Willett, Sebastian Soderberg (2019) and defending champion Ramus Hojgaard (2021) are the former course winners taking part. Hojgaard hasn’t played for a month while Soderberg has missed the cut in his last two tournaments.
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Irish in the field: Teeing off the first David Carey (9.10am), playing alongside Sebastian Heisele and Nicolai von Dallingshausen, is the first of the Irish players in action. Cormac Sharvin (9.40am) will have Huilin Zhang and Sven Cremer for company while Paul Dunne and James Sugrue (2.20pm) are joined by France’s Adrien Saddier. Starting on the 10th tee, Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Caldwell (1.20pm) is alongside Rory Sabbatini and Daniel Gavins, while Dubliner Niall Kearney (9.20pm) is in a threeball that includes Alfie Plant and Alvaro Quiros.
Betting: New Zealand’s Ryan Fox and Adrian Meronk lead the betting but Sean Crocker (33-1) who won his first DP World title when claiming victory in the recent Hero Open has shown progressive form at Crans-Sur-Sierre, finishing 54th, 28th and fourth in his last three visits. Lucas Bjerregaard (80-1) looks good each-way value as he has had some good performances in Switzerland.
On TV: Live on Sky Sports from 12.30pm
