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Shubhankar Sharma loves thin air
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Ewen Ferguson is well-suited by the test
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Stick with Thriston 'Thin Air' Lawrence
To Crans-sur-Sierre, high in the Alps, and one of the DP World Tour's favourite stopping-off points.
There are the views of the mountains, a lovely mini-amphitheatre around one putting surface, and a fun garden pond in front of the 18th green.
Moreover, there are locations on this golf course - and in the town - that have gone down in tour legend.
The Argentine steak house that fuelled the victories of Eduardo Romero and Ricardo Gonzalez.
The wall that surrounds the swimming pool off the 18th fairway, over which Severiano Ballesteros launched his sensational approach shot, footage of which, with its tantalisingly vague nature (he's there, somewhere, in the trees, maybe behind the wall, there, among the shadows) somewhat resembles photographs of the reputed second shooter on the grassy knoll in Dealey Plaza.
Seve won here, so did Ian Woosnam, Nick Faldo, Jose Maria Olazabal, Colin Montgomerie, Sergio Garcia, Thomas Bjorn, Lee Westwood, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Danny Willett and Matt Fitzpatrick.
In other words, it's a superb sifter of talent and yet ...
And yet one of the tour's greatest - Rory McIlroy - has not only never quite conquered it, he's somehow contrived a pratfall every time he's had a chance.
In 2008 he was chasing a first professional win, leading by four blows after 54 holes and his closest pursuers were Alejandro Canizares (not a bad performer at his best), a couple of French journeymen (Christian Cevaer and Jean Francois Lucquin), local man Julien Clement and Argentina's Juan Abbate.
Somehow, McIlroy contrived to be caught by Lucquin and defeated by him in extra holes.
In 2011 he shared the halfway lead but couldn't convert.
And in 2019 he found himself in a play-off with Lorenzo Gagli, Andres Romero (another Argentinean), Kalle Samooja and Sebastian Soderberg.
Who won? Soderberg.
So what can we learn from this?
That quality golfers can thrive, but also that outsiders can trip them up (and the steakhouse has magical powers - alas Argentineans rarely start these days).
The course is a par-70 at just 6,808 yards and it plays shorter because it is 1,495 metres above sea level.
It's also quirky, which explains why the superstars sometimes play as if their shoelaces have been tied together.
Best bet: Shubhankar Sharma 1pt each-way @ 125/1
On the Monday morning after the Open India's Shubhankar Sharma was wandering around Hoylake town, enjoying a coffee, reflecting on not only having finished eighth in the championship but having spent all week in the top 10.
True, it was just his second top 20 since the Indian Open in February, but I remain convinced that he has more wins in him at this level and a tree-lined layout at altitude strikes me as potentially fertile ground for the next triumph.
Consider that his first two top fives on the Asian Tour came at tree-lined Delhi Golf Club.
Also, that his breakthrough win on the DP World Tour came at the wooded Randpark GC in Johannesburg and soon after he won at tight Saujana in Malaysia.
Remember that a few weeks later he led the WGC Mexico Championship at the tight Chapultepec in Mexico City after 36 and 54 holes before finishing ninth.
Since then he has been sixth at short and tight Hong Kong in late 2018, third after 54 holes at Wentworth in 2019, third at altitude in Madrid in late 2021, the halfway leader of the Kenya Open in early 2022 and second in Sun City last November.
His course form doesn't look great at first glance (MC-50-MC) but he was just three back of the 54-hole lead in that middle effort.
Recalling that excellent performance in the Open in his last start, with plenty of good form at spots similar to Crans, I really like him at three figures.
Next best: Ewen Ferguson 1pt each-way @ /1
Former winner Soderberg, who was tenth at altitude in the Sierra Nevada mountains recently, was tempting, as was Guido Migliozzi, a winner at height in Nairobi who was seventh here in 2021.
But Ewen Ferguson gets vote number two.
True, he missed the cut on debut 12 months ago but in carding 68-70 he really didn't embarrass himself.
The key is that he has played well among trees and at height.
He has top fives in the well-wooded Rinkven International, Dar es Salam and Belfry.
He's been twice second at Adamstal which is both tree-lined and high up.
He very nearly won his first DP World Tour title (leading by four after 54 holes) in Nairobi.
Then he won his second title at tight Galgorm Castle and it was next time out that he had that flat debut in this event.
He can improve on that this week.
Final Bet: Thriston Lawrence 1pt each-way @ 50/1
I'm not going to give up on the South African.
True, he didn't do too much when we supported him last week but it remains the case that he is very good at altitude and is also a course winner (we backed him 12 months ago).
And let's just revisit his record at this kind of altitude in the last two years.
In Johannesburg: first, ninth, eighth, 33rd, first and 52nd.
In Nairobi: second.
Here at Crans: a first round 62 set him up for victory on debut.
He could only manage 71-72 last week at minor altitude near Prague but there was a second round 65 in a Sunshine Tour event in Johannesburg in his previous start.
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