The DP World Tour remains in South Africa this week for the Jonsson Workwear Open, the third staging of this tournament, and one which concludes the International Swing section of the campaign before we head to Asia.
Nick Bachem came from seemingly nowhere leading into the week to land the title a year ago and he is back to attempt to make a successful defence of the title, one which will take place on a different course to the one which he won on.
Recent Winners
2023 – Nick Bachem
2022 – J.C. Ritchie
The Course
We have moved to the Glendower Golf Club for this tournament. This course has been used on the DP World Tour in the past having hosted the South African Open so it isn’t completely new to the players involved. It is a par 72 which stretches 7,542 yards but we should remember that we are in an altitude part of the world so the course doesn’t play anywhere near that long. The course is treelined and a parkland offering.
There are no fewer than 64 bunkers on the course, 37 of which come on the back nine while 11 of the holes have water in play so there is a real premium on accuracy around here both off the tee and with the iron shots. The greens on this course aren’t exactly huge so scrambling and putting is going to be key this week as well so the field are going to be given a significant test of the golf bag if they want to get the job done here.
The Field
As we highlighted last week we have a huge tournament in America on the horizon so these South Africa ones have to suffer in terms of quality of field and as such we only have four players in the top 100 in the world teeing it up this week. They are headed by the recent Qatar Masters champion Rikuya Hoshino while the home player Thriston Lawrence is in the field as well. The other two members of the top 100 are Jordan Smith and Zander Lombard.
We have four players in the top 10 in the Race to Dubai standings in the field this week. Hoshino and Lombard are two of them and Darius van Driel and Jesper Svensson are both in the field looking to enhance their position in the standings, while Dylan Frittelli is another winner on the season teeing it up here. Aaron Cockerill, the winner last week in Jordan Gumberg, Ugo Coussaud, Jayden Schaper and Nacho Elvira are in the top 20 in the Race to Dubai rankings with a tee time. The defending champion Nick Bachem is also in the field.
Market Leaders
We have joint favourites to win the tournament this week with the market leaders 18/1 which highlights how competitive this event could well be. Ewen Ferguson and Thriston Lawrence are the two at the head of the betting. Ferguson followed up top 10 finishes in Qatar and Kenya with a T20 last week but is on his debut here while Lawrence comes here off the back of two successive top 20 finishes and will be eager to win the last event in his homeland for a while.
Two more players are a touch bigger than them at 20/1. They are the bigger hitters of Zander Lombard and Tom McKibbin. Lombard was second in this tournament last year but that was on a different course to this one but he was second in Bahrain recently and sixth in the Dimension Data Pro-am but missed the cut last week. McKibbin arrives with four successive top 16 finishes so he is in good form but he hasn’t really threatened a win just yet this year.
Jordan Smith comes next in the betting at 25/1. He looks a fair price but he is another who doesn’t win nearly as often as a long game of the quality of his should do and a large reason for that is a struggle on the greens. Smith is the third highest ranked player in the field but he has missed two of his last three cuts and doesn’t strike me as someone who is knocking on the door of a win, which I would want him to be if he is to be backed at 25/1.
Riyuka Hoshino is the only other player who is shorter than 30/1 in the betting. Hoshino won the Qatar Masters on a course where accuracy was the order of the day so he should be taken seriously here. He has offered two middle of the road efforts since then but we often see a bit of a downturn when someone has won at a level for the first time so I’m not going to hold that against him. He is the highest ranked player in the field and might well be popular at 28/1.
Main Bets
Andy Sullivan is a former winner around here and that might give him an edge given that the course is being used on the DP World Tour for the first time in six years. He comes in here off the back of a T4 finish last week which would have been a lot stronger had he not carded a one over par final round. That is a slight concern that when push came to shove he was found wanting but on a course he has previously won on I expect him to get the job done if he is in the same position. Sullivan was fifth in strokes gained from tee to green last week and if the long game is in as good order here he could be a big price.
Aaron Cockerill has made a good start to the season and I think he could be overpriced here. He finished fourth in the Dubai Desert Classic where the field was a whole lot better than it is here and he was sixth in Bahrain recently. He threw in tame efforts in Qatar and Kenya but the week off might just have refreshed him enough to go well here. Cockerill has a decent short game and putting statistics and that should bode well here. Cockerill went well in this tournament last year and actually has a decent record in South Africa. He is sat at 13 on the Race to Dubai rankings without winning a tournament which shows how consistent he has been and if he is in the same form he should go well here.
Outsiders
Regular readers will know that whenever we get to the African tournaments I can rarely resist having a bet on Jacques Krujswijk and I am not abandoning that this week. He was fourth around here in the SA Open in 2018 and I am amazed he hasn’t won on the DP World Tour yet. There is little weakness in his game, especially when we get to this part of the world and he is trending in the right direction having finished T27 in Qatar and then T11 in Kenya a couple of weeks ago. He is another who is refreshed for this event and will be motivated on home soil so he ticks enough boxes to be an outsider bet here.
My last bet this week is Matteo Manassero. Accuracy is going to be a thing around here and when his long game is on song there aren’t too many more accurate than the Italian. Mannasero came back to form when he won a couple of titles on the Challenge Tour last year and he has already finished fifth in the South African Open Championship this season. He hasn’t gone overly well since then but he isn’t going to go that great on bombers paradises in the middle east at this level. Back when there is a premium on accuracy he could be a leading light again. He is a big price if his long game is in decent order.
Tips
Back A.Sullivan to win Jonsson Workwear Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-8)
Back A.Cockerill to win Jonsson Workwear Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 46.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-8)
Back them here:
Back J.Kruyswijk to win Jonsson Workwear Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 61.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back M.Manassero to win Jonsson Workwear Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 151.00 with Betway (1/5 1-7)
