Tournament: Omega European Masters
Venue: Crans-sur-Sierre GC, Crans Montana, Switzerland
Race to Dubai: Tournament 33 of 42
Back 9: Tournament 2 of 9
Prize Fund: US$3,250,000
Hashtag: #OEM2025 #DPWT
Matt Wallace returns to the Omega European Masters looking to defend his title after last year’s dramatic play-off win over Alfredo Garcia-Heredia.
The 35-year-old has an excellent record in Crans-Montana, finishing runner-up in 2022 and inside the top 25 in 2023. His victory last year was set up by opening rounds of 64 and 62, helping him to a 14th-place finish on the Race to Dubai – his best season-long result in five years.
This week he will hope to shake off a couple of frustrating Sundays, though he has made all seven of his DP World Tour cuts this season. It will also be the first occasion the five-time DP World Tour winner has returned to the same golf course the following year to defend a title.
Major Champion Matt Fitzpatrick is hoping a mix of high confidence and low expectations can fuel his bid for a third title in the Swiss Alps this week.
A two-time winner in 2017 and 2018, the Englishman arrives for a ninth appearance in good form as he plays his fifth event worldwide in as many weeks after recording his second top ten in that stretch at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo last week.
Fitzpatrick appeared on track to win the British Masters for a second time – ten years after his first victory as a professional – before a closing 74 saw him finish in a tie for sixth at The Belfry Hotel & Resort. While there was inevitable disappointment, it was “a good week” for the 30-year-old and he is back on the cusp of a return to the world’s top 30.
Meanwhile, Alex Noren was happy to find a missing piece of his golfing puzzle as he claimed victory for the first time in over seven years last week at the British Masters.
His win at the 2018 Open de France was his seventh in four seasons and came just months before he played on the victorious European Ryder Cup team in Paris. One of those triumphs came at the Omega European Masters and Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club was also the scene of his maiden DP World Tour triumph in 2009.
Last time Noren won in Crans-Montana in 2016, he won the British Masters just six weeks later – this time he is looking to do it the other way around with the events coming back-to-back.
With the Ryder Cup selections on everyone’s mind, players are eager to impress European skipper Luke Donald this week. That will not be a concern for 2021 champion Rasmus Højgaard, who secured the final automatic spot on Team Europe at last week’s British Masters. Wallace, Fitzpatrick and Noren all have extra motivation, as do Englishmen Marco Penge – a two-time winner this season – and Aaron Rai, who will also be looking to stake their claims ahead of Donald’s September 1 decision.
While Europe’s Ryder Cup hopefuls dominate the headlines, the international contingent is equally strong. Wyndham Clark, the 2023 U.S. Open Champion, joins the field alongside PGA TOUR stars Patrick Rodgers and Erik van Rooyen, as well as 11 winners from this season’s Race to Dubai. Former champions Danny Willett and Miguel Ángel Jiménez also return, setting the stage for a spectacular week in the Swiss Alps.
Mike Lorenzo-Vera will play his final DP World Tour event this week marking his 285th and final start at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club. A popular figure among players, staff, and fans, the 40-year-old quietly announced his retirement in April with the plan to finish his career at one last tournament in the Swiss mountains.
Player Quotes
Matt Wallace: I feel proud. It’s great to be back. The weather this morning was fantastic and it was really nice to be back out there and reminiscing about some of the shots.And it’s going to be kind of like this over the next couple of days. So it’ll be playing completely different to how we’ve played it over the last few years. So it’ll be interesting.
It was the driver for me at the end of last year. I did that interview in Scotland where I was at my lowest moment and then picked up again when the Ryder Cup points started and then I was able to come here and win. It has always been a driving force for me. Hopefully I can make that team at least one time in my career.
It’s been a hard couple of weeks, probably more emotionally than physically [with] wanting to show myself and try to get into the Ryder Cup team when it means so much to you. You give it everything and I just haven’t had it. I won’t give up, there is an extra week. I don’t believe I will be able to get a pick but it is out of my control and my hands so we will leave it up to Luke.
Matt Fitzpatrick: It feels good, it feels like my game has gotten better over the summer, particularly from where it was, I feel much happier with it and the direction it is going so that is a big positive. It is just about maintaining that now and trying to make some more gains and keep climbing up the world rankings.
I think this tournament, with my history here and the relationship I have with the people, it’s always a special week. I think the golf course suits my game, I don’t think it is a wide open golf course, I would class it as being a bit fiddly, to get it round and I think that is kind of small greens and tight fairways similar to the golf course I grew up on, so I feel pretty comfortable here.
That’s the reason why I keep coming back, to try and get that third win and match Seve, that would obviously be a nice little record to have and anytime you are compared to him is always a good thing.
People are sick of it [but] managing my energy and managing my expectations has been the biggest focus, not thinking about ‘I need to get a result here for the Ryder Cup’. That’s probably helped my form in general. But also with it being so close to the picks now, my guess is Luke may have already made up his mind whether it’s going to happen or not.
So, this week might not be as strong a case as last week or the previous two or three weeks. So, I’m just going out here to try and win this tournament this week and then enjoy myself. So, I’ll be focused on that.
Wyndham Clark: Switzerland is just gorgeous. I flew into Geneva which is an amazing place and then coming up here to Crans Montana, it is one of the prettiest places I have been to. You know, I am from Colorado and it’s very similar to this, so I feel right at home. It’s a beautiful golf course and beautiful scenery.
We have been tracking the ball flight everyday with the Trackman seeing how far it is and it’s amazing with this rain it goes almost normal, and then when its hot it goes significantly further, so we have been doing a lot of that.
Hitting fairways and I know we always say fairways and greens, but because it is really tight there are a lot of out of bounds, it is hard to judge the golf ball. If you can hit a lot of greens, I think you’ll put yourself in a great spot. You know I’ve looked in years past, kind of 15, 16 under wins, so it goes to show you that it is hard to control your golf ball and if you can just give yourself a lot of looks you will give yourself a good chance to win.
I love coming over to Europe and playing over here. I have enjoyed my time in Europe and I have kind of played a lot better golf the last couple months, so I am hoping I keep it going. You know I don’t have any wins over here, so this would be a pretty awesome thing to win here.
I think all the great players win on both Tours, and like I said, I love Europe and being an Omega Ambassador is very special, so to win this tournament would be very special to me. I haven’t had a win this year, so it would be pretty nice.
Alex Noren: I’ve started putting better. I went to visit my putting coach that I went to see a lot when I was in Europe.
My stroke was good but I didn’t maybe practise in the best way and he corrected that in terms of strategy when at a tournament and off a tournament.
It boosted my confidence when I was on the greens. I try to putt a little faster, be a bit more decisive and it helped. I also trained more putting the last five weeks.
When you make a few more birdies you relax a little bit and the game feels a little bit easier. It’s all a puzzle in this game.”
It was unexpected and expected because I was playing well coming in. Then I wasn’t playing very well at the beginning of the week but had a great weekend so I managed to get that win in the end.
I’ve focused mostly on how I play and not trying to get so hooked up in winning so it was more that I was super happy with my game over the weekend and the tournaments just before last week.
I’ve always loved this week. It’s my favourite week of the whole year and I just think it’s fabulous – everything about it.
The times I’ve done well I think I’ve had a good short game around this place and it’s pretty strategic, I like strategic golf courses. Last week and this week the course will play pretty similar: tricky greens, smallish greens and then bouncy off the tee.
Mike Lorenzo Vera: I am feeling great. I have brought the family here – my kids and my mother are here, some friends are here as well. Great support, we are just here to enjoy it.
The game is not too bad [too] apparently. I played pretty good golf yesterday so we will try to play until Sunday. That’s the principle [aim].
It’s a very special week for me as I [was told [I’d] lost my Dad when I was on the first fairway here during the first round.
Having my mother here is going to feel very special. Having my kids here is absolutely beautiful.[Even] Before it happened, everybody here has been absolutely fantastic to me. I have made great friends.
I love the course, it is very tricky. You have to think about it. I don’t need to speak about the views as well.
