European Tour Fantasy Golf Predictions – Omega European Masters

2018 Omega European Masters Preview

Even given its status as a feeder competition to the PGA TOUR, just occasionally the European Tour delivers magic of its own.

How about last week’s thrilling finale to the Made in Denmark event, which saw four players duke it out in a playoff. The eventual victor, Matt Wallace, birdied eight of his last ten holes to capture his third title of an amazing season.

Make a mental note of the name….you might just see him on the European Ryder Cup team.

One of the criticisms of the Tour is that it doesn’t have memorable courses, and while that accusation might be true it certainly does not wash when looking at this week’s host: Crans-sur-Sierre, way up in the Swiss Alps.

Tyrrell Hatton of England plays a shot during the final round of the…

Tyrrell Hatton of England plays a shot during the final round of the Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club on September 10, 2017 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

The European Masters has been played here since 1939, and it truly is a remarkable sight. The Par 70 track measures 6,846 yards and plays even shorter at altitude, so this is a test of strategy and course management as much as anything else.

The small Bentgrass/Poa greens are well protected by bunkers and water, and indeed there are water hazards in play on five of the back nine holes.

But it’s not all doom and gloom: 14 and 15, which are back-to-back reachable Par 5s, yielded almost 400 birdies and 35 eagles last year, and so this could be the turning point of many a round.

In a wider context, the European Masters is one of the richest events on the rotation, and so perhaps it’s no surprise that a trio of classy sorts – Matt Fitzpatrick, Alex Noren and Danny Willett – have taken the spoils in the last three years.

The unique conditions here lend themselves to course horses, so which of the herd makes our draft for the 2018 European Masters?

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This Week’s Omega European Masters Fantasy Picks & Predictions

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This Week’s Omega European Masters Fantasy Picks

Matt Fitzpatrick – $11,600 – The unique conditions that prevail at Crans-sur-Sierre suggest that backing those with course form in abundance is a worthwhile exercise this week.

And it doesn’t get much better than Fitzpatrick’s record; the young Englishman is the defending champion, finished T6 in 2016 and was one shot behind winner Danny Willett in 2015.

He is likely to miss out on selection for the European Ryder Cup team, but perhaps that in itself will be a motivational factor for the youngster from Sheffield.

Does he deserve top billing at $11,600? Absolutely, as a four-time European Tour winner at the age of 24, including prestigious titles at the British Masters and the DP World Tour Championship, he has the game and the mind to take care of business.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat – $9,000 – The jovial Thai ace is an absolute master at finding greens in regulation, and in theory this is a course that should suit.

He finished T16 here 12 months ago, and has previous of playing good golf at altitude having bagged a top-five at the WGC Mexico event earlier this year.

Aphibarnrat has enjoyed some time off since missing the cut at the PGA Championship, but you don’t have to go back a million miles to find good form: T5 at the prestigious BMW PGA Championship, solo 15th at the US Open is class above this field.

Will he dislike the cold weather? Maybe, but then this is a guy who has won in the Scottish Highlands before!

Alexander Levy – $7,700 – Here’s one of those picks where you look at the price and think ‘hmmm….yes please!’

Levy is a five-time European Tour winner – two coming since the start of 2017, and his form isn’t as bad as it might first appear.

Indeed, take majors and Links events off his resumé and Levy isn’t in dire straits, as T13 at the European Open proves. A third round of 76 actually prevented him from adding to his title haul.

The Frenchman has top-20s to his name at Crans-sur-Sierre, and he will be looking to improve on that this week.

Richie Ramsay – $7,600 – There are some nice converging trends that bring Ramsay into the conversation this week.

A champion here in 2012, the Scot also finished T10 in 2015 and last year, whilst not hitting those heights, ranked first for GIR and closed out with a round of 64.

Last time out he finished T12 at the Made in Denmark event, an effort which included rounds of 67, 68 and 69.

Aaron Rai – $7,400 – After winning three events on the Challenge Tour in 2017, many expected Aaron Rai to come to the party on the main tour in ’18.

It hasn’t quite worked out that way, but with nine top-25 finishes you can already see the quality that he possesses.

A pair of those have come at altitude (T12 at the Open de Espana, T19 at the Joburg Open), and another pair have come in his last two starts at the Czech Masters and the Nordea Masters.

Just prior to that there were top-10s at the BMW International Open and the Scottish Open, so the form is resolutely there.

Bradley Dredge – $6,700 – A former champion and runner-up at Crans-sur-Sierre, Dredge must love it when he catches that plane to Switzerland.

It’s almost as if he wants to tune up in advance, and that is evidenced by nine of his last twelve competitive rounds being played at par or better.

What do we expect from a $6,700 pick? A win? A top-20? A cut made? Dredge has offered all of these at Crans, and with eight cuts made in his last nine starts he looks to be a solid play once again.

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