Omega European Masters: Five things to know

The DP World Tour Back 9 continues as its European adventure heads to Crans-Montana in Switzerland for the Omega European Masters. Here are your five things to know.

Fitz has Seve record in his sights

Matt Fitzpatrick and Switzerland have a vivid relationship as the Englishman targets his tenth DP World Tour title, which could see him match a record jointly held by Seve Ballesteros. The World Number 27 has already won this prestigious event on two occasions and became the first player in 40 years, since the great Spaniard, to successfully defend his crown in 2018. Fitzpatrick came in a tie for third in last year's event and victory at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club this week will see him join Ballesteros, Harold Henning from South Africa and Welshman Dai Rees to have secured a hat-trick of titles in the tournament's steeped history.

Jiménez competes against the young guns again in Swiss Alps

Miguel Ángel Jiménez takes on the role of tournament ambassador and, at the same time, the role of OMEGA brand ambassador as he tees up for the 34th time in Crans-Montana. The esteemed Spaniard has competed in over 720 tournaments on the DP World Tour, winning 21 titles and holds the record as the oldest European player to win an event at this level when taking the 2014 Open de España at the tender age of 50 years and 133 days. Jiménez, who won the Omega European Masters in 2010, 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. He said: "This is my favourite place to play golf, and I love coming back here every year. Just look around to understand what I love about this place. I don't know how many years I have left but as long as I feel capable of making birdies, you will find me at the Omega European Masters."

Van Rooyen returns to European shores

Erik van Rooyen will be making his first appearance on the DP World Tour since teeing up at the Genesis Scottish Open in July after a successful campaign on the PGA TOUR. The South African, who won his sole DP World Tour title at the 2019 Scandinavian Invitation, has recorded four top tens in the United States this season, including a tie for second at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches in March. He competed at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games for his country, finishing in 17th place courtesy of four successive under-par rounds, and hopes to be in contention in Swiss Alps.

Past champions in the field

While Ludvig Åberg is not teeing it up this week, there are a host of former winners who are looking to get back in the picturesque winner's enclosure in Crans-Montana. The Swede claimed his maiden DP World Tour title 12 months ago, which earned him a Captain's Pick for Luke Donald's Ryder Cup side the following day to become the first player in history to play at a Ryder Cup before making an appearance in a Major Championship. In his absence, Ryder Cup team-mate Fitzpatrick is hoping to join that exclusive group of three-time winners, while Sweden's Sebastian Söderberg returns to the scene of his one and only victory at this level in 2019. Dane Rasmus Højgaard, who won on the Severiano Ballesteros course in 2021, is on the entry list alongside the in-form 2022 champion Thriston Lawrence and 2012 winner Richie Ramsay.

Crans-sur-Sierre's green initiative

The Omega European Masters sees a sustainability initiative take wing this year with 25 new birdboxes installed around Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club. The storied Swiss event has long been a leader in the environmental field and in recent years, it is the local wildlife that has been benefitting from biodiversity work being done high in the mountains. The course has been Golf Environmental Organisation (GEO) certified since 2022, the same year a biologist was brought in to help revegetate parts of the course. It was noted that the youth of many of the trees meant that they did not have cavities in which local chickadees, white-fronted redstarts and anteater torcols breed and nest. With white-fronted redstarts and anteater torcols on the red-list of threatened breeding birds in Switzerland, the idea was born to place the birdboxes around the course and give them a place they could flourish, with the initiative likely to benefit 25 per cent of bird species living around the course. The boxes are built by local school children and the 25 installed this spring takes the total on the course to 31.