The Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre: A history

The second biggest Europe-based event on the European Tour, the Omega European Masters event at the fabulous Crans-sur-Sierre golf club in Crans Montana, Switzerland is without doubt one of the most spectacular events in world golf.

The fabulous sweeping backdrop of the Swiss alps provides golf fans with some of the most iconic and beautiful viewing throughout the year. Quite simply, when it comes to playing golf in a place that takes the breath away, Crans Montana is certainly up their with the best.

With the Omega European Masters in town this weekend for the 2012 tournament, let’s take a look at the long history of this top quality event, which is now part of both the European and Asian tours.

History

The tournament was first established in 1923 as the Swiss Open  and was won in three of the first four years by Scottish golfer Alec Ross.

It was in 1939 however that the first major change came when the event was moved to the fabulous course at Crans-sur-Sierre, where it has remained a popular event on the European tour ever since.

In 2006, the sponsors of the event caused a stir by inviting Michelle Wie to participate in the event. Wie was the first female golfer to be invited to take part in a male European Tour event and her participation was viewed as an ‘experiment’ according to sponsors.

It didn’t pan out especially well for Wie, who finished dead last in the tournament and sponsors have since elected not to invite any more women to participate in the event.

In 2009, the event was also co-sanctioned by the Asian tour, the first event on the European tour to achieve that honour.

Previous Winners

Previous winners of the event include Lee Westwood (1999), Colin Montgomerie (1996), Luke Donald (2004), Sergio Garcia (2005), Miguel Angel Jiminez (2010), Nick Faldo (1983), Ian Woosnam (1982) and Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal (1986).

In addition, legendary Spanish golfer Seve Ballesteros enjoyed great success at Crans-sur-Sierre winning three times in 1977, 1978 and 1989.

The current holder of the title is popular Danish golfer and Ryder Cup co-captain, Thomas Bjorn who won by four strokes over Martin Kaymer last year, recording a score of -20 for his four rounds.

The Omega European Masters  2012 -  A Roundup

Images by Gorilla Golf Blog