The long wait for the week when everything falls into place

Joel Girrbach will not be given anything at his home tournament. He was the first Swiss player to tee off at the Omega European Masters on Thursday - shortly after half past eight. The start was then initially postponed due to rain. And after two holes had been played, the next interruption occurred, this time due to fog.

Girrbach played two pars on his first two holes. It could have been two birdies (1 under par); the putts just missed the hole twice.

Somehow, the gloomy scene on Thursday morning matched Joel Girrbach's relationship with Crans-Montana. Things have never gone smoothly for Girrbach at Switzerland's biggest golf event. "I've never been successful here. That's definitely the case," said Girrbach in an interview with Keystone-SDA on Wednesday. "I hope that changes this week."

Girrbach is teeing off in Crans-Montana for the ninth time. He has only made the cut once. And his 68th place in 2022 contrasts with a whole host of finishes outside the top 100. Joel Girrbach doesn't know the reasons for the poor results: "I like playing in Crans. It's clearly the biggest tournament in Switzerland. And we can be proud to have such a tournament in our country. Of course, there's a bit more for us Swiss to do at our home tournament. But I think I can handle it. Apart from that, I'm approaching this tournament in exactly the same way as all the others."

The Thurgau native has also not had the best of luck at the other tournaments this season. He is only 123rd in the annual rankings; only the top 110 get a tour card for 2026. "I played too inconsistently in the first half of the season," says Girrbach. "But things got better after the summer break. And now there are a few big tournaments in a row where there are more points to be won. I need at least one very good result at these tournaments."

The long wait for the week when everything comes together should end for Girrbach these days on the Valais high plateau. "Because if I don't make the tour card for next season, that would clearly be a defeat for me." However, the Swiss is far from giving up, even if he doesn't manage to qualify directly via the annual ranking. "I want to play on the tour for as long as possible."