Lowdown: A week after the Ryder Cup team has been finalised the Tour moves to the stunning Crans-sur-Sierre course high in the mountains of Crans Montana which, for the 64th year, will play host to the Omega European Masters.
The tournament has an illustrious list of winners which contain a huge amount of Major Champions, these include Sir Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam and Ernie Els.
Last year the tournament was the first to be co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours to be hosted on European soil and it was a European who triumphed. Sweden's Alexander Noren shot a closing round 66 to win by two shot's from Wales' Bradley Dredge.
Venue: Crans-sur-Sierre Golf CLub Date: 2-5 September Course stats: par 71, 6,822 yards Purse: €2,000,000 Winner: €333,330 Defending Champion: Alexander Noren
TV Coverage: Thursday 2 - Live on Sky Sports 3 and HD3 10.30am-12.30pm and 3.30pm - 5.30pm Friday 3 - Live on Sky Sports 3 and HD3 10.30am-12.30pm and 3.30pm - 5.30pm Saturday 4 - Live on Sky Sports 1 and HD1 12.00noon - 4.00pm Sunday 5 - Live on Sky Sports 4 and HD4 12.00noon - 4.00pm
Player Watch:
Louis Oosthuizen - The South African Open Champion is back in Europe to attempt to overhaul the five players who are currently ahead of him in the Race to Dubai rankings.
Edoardo Molinari - Last week's Champion at Gleneagles must still be on cloud nine after not only his win last week but his Ryder Cup wildcard pick. Expect more good golf from him this week.
Greg Norman - A rare foray onto the European Tour for the two-time Major winning Australian. The Great White Shark may be well past his best but his fan base is huge and he could put on a decent display.
Key Hole: 14th, 516yds, this hole is where the tournament can be won and lost, it has had one of the 5 albatrosses recorded at this event when Mark Davis holed his second in 1991. However with a large lake short right of the green, it has also the ability to be a round wrecker for those going for the green in two.
Skills required: The ball travels a mile at the altitude that this course is played at and there is a bit of space to play with. But you must be accurate with your irons, Alexander Noren hit only 50% of fairways last year but 80% of greens on his way to top spot.
