Tuesday 2 September 2014 20:20, UK
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.
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 to now get back in the world's top 50 and the 11-time European Tour winner, who has twice played in the Ryder Cup, can aid that bid with a victory here.
It's good to see Brooks Koepka back in Europe again and he arrives after a 15th in the US PGA and a 38th in the Wyndham where he closed with a 64.
He also teed it up in this event last year, finishing seventh, while his other start in Switzerland produced a tied 27th in a Challenge Tour event in 2012.
After finishes of fourth and 15th in the last two US-based majors, he's clearly a class above most of this field and a good putting display on his most recent outing suggests he can shine here.
Finally, the form of the recent US PGA has worked out incredibly well for the Europeans which bodes well for Dubuisson, who was T7 at Valhalla, and also Finland's Mikko Ilonen.
Marc Warren and Jamie Donaldson, who both made the top 25 in the US PGA, have since gone on to win so Ilonen may feel he can follow in their footsteps having made the top 10 in the year's final major.
Ilonen was an excellent winner of the Irish Open back in June and was a dual winner on the European Tour in 2007 so it's not unreasonable to expect a quick follow-up.
Also victorious in last year's Nordea Masters, Ilonen has good recent putting stats too (5th in PA at Valhalla) so ticks that box.
As for course form, it's a bit of a mixed bag but a seventh in 2006 and a ninth in 2010 are worth noting and, as it's 2014, hopefully he can continue his four-year cycle of playing well here.
Best bets
4pts win Victor Dubuisson at 14/1
1pt e.w. Robert Karlsson at 33/1 (1/4 1,2,3,4,5)
1pts e.w. Brooks Koepka at 33/1 (1/4 1,2,3,4,5)
1pt e.w. Mikko Ilonen at 33/1 (1/4 1,2,3,4,5)
