Omega European Masters: A preview, stats and best bets for Crans-sur-Sierre

The European Tour is back in the Swiss Alps for one of the longest running events in professional golf.

The stunning beautiful location of Crans-sur-Sierre has hosted a top level tournament every year since 1948.

Ryder Cup skippers Eric Brown and Dai Rees were triumphant here during the 1950s, while other eminent champions over the years have included Bobby Locke, Bob Charles, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Nick Price, Craig Stadler, Ian Woosnam and Jose Maria Olazabal.

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The heavily undulating fairways are tree-lined on a course built more than 100 years ago.

Due to its high altitude the ball will fly around 10% further than normal, with the tournament usually providing a low 72-hole winning total - hardly a surprise given that this par 70 measures in at a very short 6,848 yards.

A major refurbishment was carried out by Ballesteros ahead of the 1999 event while nine holes have been tinkered with in the last two years. Seve was a three-time winner at Crans, a feat Thomas Bjorn (also twice a runner-up here) will be trying to emulate this year.

Bjorn will be joined in the field this week by two of his fellow Gleneagles-bound Ryder Cup teammates - Jamie Donaldson and Victor Dubuisson. 

Lowest rounds since 2000

61 Miguel Angel Jimenez (2010), Craig Lee (2013)
62 Eduardo Romero (2000), Brett Rumford (2009), Thomas Bjorn (2011).

The lowest all-time score recorded at Crans-Sur-Sierre is 60 by Jamie Spence in 1992. 

Winning totals

Four times in the last five years, the winner has posted -20 or lower. Thomas Bjorn won a play-off against Craig Lee last year after both had carded 20-under while the Dane shot the same total when winning by four in 2011. Miguel Angel Jimenez triumphed with 21-under in 2010 while Sweden's Alex Noren fired -20 to triumph in 2009.

Conclusion

Those with pedigree and a touch of extra class are generally the players to back at Crans.

And, looking at last year, five of the top seven finishers were ranked in the top six in the Putting Average stats.

The three Ryder Cuppers head the betting and have good credentials. Bjorn won it last year, Dubuisson was third and Donaldson can boast a 3rd and a 9th in the last three years at the Swiss venue so, in other words, there's plenty of reason to go with one of the front three.

My pick would be Dubuisson, who now resides in Andorra, up in the Pyrenees Mountains, so should feel right at home in these surroundings.

The Frenchman shot 65-66-66 in the final three rounds here last year when third so can make his return to the Alps a happy one at 14/1.

Quirky courses tend to suit some and confuse others and it's no surprise that several names crop up many times when scanning the list of top 20 finishers at Crans.

Someone very much in that category is Robert Karlsson, who won here in 2002, was runner-up in 1997 and fourth in 2003. His most recent visits have produced a 17th in 2005 and a 12th in 2007.

If that form seems a little dated, his latest displays in Europe are a less debatable source of encouragement.

Karlsson notched a sixth place in his native Sweden at the start of June, was fourth in the Open de France, eighth in the Scottish Open and 12th in The Open at Hoylake.

Since then he finished 47th in the US PGA (shooting 69s in rounds two and four) while his last round was a 67 in the Wyndham even though he missed the cut.

His aim is