Major Champion Matt Fitzpatrick is hoping to continue his love affair with the Omega European Masters as he aims to match the legendary Seve Ballesteros as a three-time winner of the historic event.
The 2022 U.S. Open Champion is targeting a tenth DP World Tour title, and with back-to-back victories at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club in 2017 and 2018, the Englishman would love to join Spaniard Ballesteros, South African Harold Henning and Welshman Dai Rees in securing a hat-trick of titles in the Swiss Alps.
The 30-year-old came in a tie for third in last year’s event and will have stiff competition with a number of past champions in the field this week, including 2021 winner Rasmus Højgaard.
Matt Fitzpatrick: “I love coming here obviously. Had some really nice results here as well. As you know, just being here in general, it’s always a great week.
“I won them both in play-offs which was pretty cool. But yeah, I think just winning this tournament in general.
Being in the town, the golf course, the views. Yeah, it is a special place and obviously to win twice, I’d really like to get the third.
“It plays about ten per cent further here. For us, that is what we look at. It varies on the temperature, and a few other things [like] time of day.
It’s a golf course that you have got to get your head around. You have got to do your homework. They have changed it a fair bit over the last few years. All of them have led to an improvement on the golf course.
“Obviously if he [brother Alex] does have any questions, then I am more than happy to share with him but on the whole, he does his own thing.
“Ever since he [caddie Billy Foster] came on the bag in 2019, he has been brilliant for me. His experience, particularly at a time when I needed it, is second to none.
He has probably been out here as long as anyone, had as much success as anyone out here and the aware is a testament to his hard work over the years.
He has been going 42, 43 years and he is still walking every inch of the golf course and trying to find every little bit of detail to help us have a good result. He is a fantastic caddie.”
The Dane is on course for a career-high finish in the Race to Dubai Rankings, currently sitting 12th after two previous best finishes of 16th in both 2020 and 2022.
A highly respectable 18th-placed finish in 2023 continued the remarkable consistency shown by Højgaard since his two-win breakout season four years ago but it also saw him miss out on dual membership with the PGA TOUR by one place.
Rasmus Højgaard: “I feel good, it was nice to play some good golf last week. This is one of the weeks I look the most forward to so I’m looking forward to the week.
“I remember getting on a bit of a run on the back nine, making a few birdies and an eagle.
All of a sudden I was tied for the lead, I wasn’t really prepared for that but I guess towards the end everything fell in my favour. It was a cool week.
“At the moment I’m trying to keep the ball as straight as possible so I’ve probably taken a bit of speed off.
Last week there’s a few holes where if you have a bit of carry you have a big advantage.
“I managed to hit some of the long ones straight on that Sunday so that obviously gave me a few short approach shots.
“There’s not a lot of drivers out here so you just try to keep the ball in play as much as possible. There’s a lot of short irons and wedges in so the main focus is to play some of the hard holes good and there’s always going to be some birdie chances out there.
“It’s good now. I’m glad I’m back playing so I’m looking forward to this long stretch.”
Undeterred, he started 2024 with four consecutive top-11 finishes, adding another two top-fives including a third-placed result last week at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.
Sweden’s Sebastian Söderberg returns to the scene of his victory in 2019, alongside in-form 2022 champion Thriston Lawrence and 2012 winner Richie Ramsay.
Spaniard Miguel Ángel Jiménez, who won the Omega European Masters in 2010 and will tee it up for the 34th time in Crans Montana this week, will face many rivals who were not even born when he first lined up in Switzerland and he hopes to extend his association with this event in years to come in his role as tournament ambassador.
