The Crans-Sur-Sierre course once again hosts the Omega European Masters this week. It’s a short, tricky little course where scoring is expected to be low. Players who are long have a good chance this week as they will be hitting short controlled shots to greens that are similar to ‘upturned saucers’. Equally, good iron players have just as good a chance of winning. There are some big attractions at this event, which include British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and two members of the European Ryder Cup team. Also, it has a great blend of young and old. Miguel Angel Jimenez is making his 22nd consecutive appearance in this event and the ‘Great White Shark’ Greg Norman is making a rare and unexpected return to professional golf. On the youthful side of things, the competition has the young Italian maestro Matteo Manassero in attendance and also has the young Korean starlet Seung-yul Noh vying for top spot this week. So looking at all of my available options, these are the three players I came up with.

Miguel Angel Jimenez each way @ 16/1

As I said at the top of the article, this is Jimenez’s 22nd consecutive appearance in this event. What I left out, was that despite going close on many appearances he has never won this event. However, his record in this competition has been impressive. He has recorded four top fives plus another four top tens in his previous twenty one starts at this event. Even more impressive is his recent form in the event in which he has had three top five finishes in six years. Already this year he has had two wins, both of them coming in tough events with strong fields. In addition, he has a further three top tens this season, with two of these coming in the last two weeks. I would be very surprised if Miguel wasn’t in the shakeup come Sunday. His odds are slack but all things considered I would be happy to take him at 16/1.

Bradley Dredge each way @ 20/1

Dredge is another man who holds this course in high esteem. In the last four years of this event he has recorded three top fives, which included a first place finish in 2006. He has had a good season but it could be so much better were it not for his inability to finish off competitions. Dredge has made fifteen cuts, and has only had one fourth round score in the sixties out of these fifteen. If he could have finished better in some of these competitions, he would at least have one win this year. But this week is different. In the last sixteen rounds he has played at this course, he has had thirteen rounds in the sixties, three of these being in final rounds. As for recent form, Dredge was tied seventh last week and recorded a top twenty finish the week before that. The only reason Dredge is not my top pick this week is because his final rounds this year have been sub-standard. Like Jimenez, he has the past form at this event to go close.

Seung-yul Noh each way @ 50/1

The young Korean has had a very successful year, already recording a win on the European Tour. His recent form has been solid as he has had a couple of top twenty finishes in his last two European starts and a top thirty finish in the US PGA Championship. He fits the bill for the type of player we are looking for perfectly. He is a massive hitter, with a driving distance average of over 306 yards. He then averages a total of 68.52% of greens in regulation. So that’s all well and good because that’s the kind of player we are looking for but Noh also is a great putter which will help on these tricky little greens. Noh has been there before and his experience of winning at such a young age can only help him. At 50/1 Noh seems to be worth a punt.

I really fancy Dredge to go well this week also. He has been knocking on the door the past few months and with the pressure of the Ryder Cup now over, there will be many players like Dredge and Jimenez who will feel like there has been a weight lifted off their shoulders. One other player who I think has hugely appealing odds this week is Simon Khan. I know he hasn’t done much since his win a few months back in Wentworth, but he played solid golf for much of the USPGA. Khan is 80/1, but possibly even more appealing, he is 7/1 for a top 10 and 7/2 for a top 20. Michael Hoey is another who is priced favorably for a top 20 finish at 9/2.