The European Tour continues to stay in South Africa this week where the Joburg Open is played. Over 200 players descend on the South African capital for a tournament which is played over two golf courses.
Those courses are both at the Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club. The tournament is played on the East and West Course over the first two days before the halfway cut is made and the remainder of the event concludes solely around the East.
The East course is much the longer of the two. Firstly it is a par 72 as opposed to the West which is only a par 71. The East plays to a yardage of 7,677 yards in contrast to the West which comes in at 7,228. Both sound long but don’t play to that yardage given that we’re at altitude in Joburg.
One trend with both courses is that you need to be solid from tee to green. Both courses are treelined with the trees positioned to make wayward tee shots a real disadvantage. The rough being clingy helps in that regard.
In order to score well on either course you need to hit the greens so a strong tee to green game is necessary this week. Having your putting boots on is an advantage too especially on these well contoured greens but they’re not overly big so all those who find them in the right number will have scoring opportunities.
Although there are over 200 players teeing it up this week the field isn’t the strongest and it might be that the tournament doesn’t take a whole lot of winning. None of the main three South Africans in Grace, Oosthuizen or Schwartzel are anywhere near the place and the fact that Thomas Aiken, potentially a leading chance this week, headed for Hawaii for Monday qualifying suggests this event is low on the priority list.
Such is the lack of strength in depth in the field this week Jaco van Zyl is as short as 14/1 favourite to win the tournament. Having backed him last week I’m not going to dispute that but his putter was stone cold after the first round which puts me off following him again.
Brandon Stone won last week and is 25/1 for back to back wins but you would have think that would be a really tough ask given the emotional rollercoaster he will have been on. Tyrell Hatton is also 25/1 but plays for the first time this season so might need a week to shake off the rust. Trevor Fisher Jr and Richard Sterne, a two time winner here, complete those 30/1 or shorter.
South Africans have a good record in this tournament and the majority of my picks this week are home players but I will take one overseas player to get things going and that is Jason Scrivener.
Scrivener is very good from tee to green and those who followed me prior to Christmas will have invested in him in the Australian PGA Championship where he was right there at halfway before falling apart in tough conditions in the third round.
I’ve a feeling form from that week could be significant this week so the fact Scrivener went well for large parts should do him no harm here. We know Scrivener’s tee to green game is in good shape and he showed that again last week ranking inside the top 10 in driving accuracy and the top 25 for greens in regulation.
Those results are no surprise for a monotonously straight hitter and if he can find some heat with the short stick on what are nice greens to play on then I expect the Australian to back up his T12 finish last week with an even stronger showing here.
One man who has been talked up in South Africa for a while is the youngster Christiaan Bezuidenhout and he showed why last week when chasing home Stone in the SA Open.
What impressed me most about Bezuidenhout was how well he played in the pressure cooker of the final round which says to me he has plenty about him. He hit 75% of the greens last week which is a statistic which should serve him well this week if he can repeat that sort of level and if he does we know he’s unlikely to wilt.
In much weaker company than he kept last week this could be a perfect opportunity for the youngster to launch his career in fine style this week.
They are my main picks but I’ll fire the gun at a couple of bigger prices too and the first of those is another who went well in Australia just prior to Christmas in the shape of Dylan Fritelli.
Fritelli was narrowly beaten in a playoff that week but dealing with the wind on a tough course like that should serve him well for the events to come and if the wind does get up here we know he’ll be fine.
Fritelli was inside the top 20 last week where he ranked second in greens hit so if he can get the putter to play ball in this tournament there is no reason why he can’t go even closer and nail that elusive tournament win.
Another man who impressed me from tee to green last week is Erik van Rooyen and at a three figure price he’s worth a go this week.
The South African was 12th in fairways hit last week and he did that while creaming it the second furthest of anyone in the field. Only Dean Burmester was longer in the field. He made full use of that length too by hitting 75% of the greens in the right number and he’s another who if the putter cooperates is set for a huge week.
Back J.Scrivener to win Joburg Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 36.00 with Paddy Power (1/5 1-7)
Back C.Bezuidenhout to win Joburg Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 46.00 with Paddy Power (1/5 1-7)
Back D.Fritelli to win Joburg Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Paddy Power (1/5 1-7)
Back E.van Rooyen to win Joburg Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with Paddy Power (1/5 1-7)
