The DP World Tour heads back into South Africa this week for the South African Open, one of the bigger tournaments in this part of the world and the first of two weeks in the sunshine nation to round off the International Swing.
Dean Burmester was the man who came away with the title the last time this tournament was held and he is in the field looking to make a successful defence of the crown but a solid field will be out to deny him a second win.
Recent Winners
2024 – Dean Burmester
2023 – Thriston Lawrence
2022 – Daniel van Tonder
2021 – Christiaan Bezuidenhout
2020 – Branden Grace
2019 – Louis Oosthuizen
2018 – Chris Paisley
2017 – Graeme Storm
2016 – Brandon Stone
2015 – Andy Sullivan
The Course
Dean Burmester will defend the title on a different course to the one that he won on though because we move to the Durban Country Club this week. This course has held this event in the past but a long time ago, however it has staged the now not in operation Jonsson Workwear Open on the Challenge Tour in 2022. The course is a par 72 which measures 6,780 yards so it isn’t overly long but it is going to play to that full yardage because already the tournament has been put back three hours due to waterlogging on the course.
Although this course is said to have a links feel about it with undulations on the fairways and things like that, we can probably ignore bits of that because the course is going to play soft so there won’t be much run on the ball and the fairways will play wider. This is going to play into the hands of the longer hitters you would think. We are likely to see target practice golf so long hitters or very aggressive iron players would appear the ones to be on.
The Field
We are at that stage of the season where some big events are on the horizon in America so the fields on the DP World Tour are going to lack depth and quality and that is highlighted by the fact that just three members of the top 100 in the world are teeing it up this week. They are Laurie Canter, John Parry and Romain Langasque. We do have the defending champion Dean Burmester in the field too and he would surely be in that gang had he not joined the LIV Golf circuit.
There are a number of players who are high up in the early Race to Dubai standings who are in the field this week. Canter and Parry are in the top three and as far as the top 10 go they are joined by Shaun Norris, Johannes Veerman, Haotong Li and Jacques Kruyswijk who won the Kenya Open last week and goes in search of successive wins. Ryggs Johnston, Alejandro del Rey, Ivan Cantero, Jayden Schaper and Angel Ayora are all in the top 20 and will be looking to improve their position.
Market Leaders
Dean Burmester is a 9/1 favourite to make a successful defence of his title. He is certainly going to be helped by the saturated nature of the course as there won’t be many in this field who are longer that he is and he is aggressive with the irons and a decent putter. Other than the restraints on his time as a defending champion there isn’t a lot against the South African, who will be motivated to win on home soil and to get the ranking points to move him back towards the top 100 in the world.
Laurie Canter is a 16/1 second favourite to win the tournament this week and you would say that is perfectly fair for a man who is the highest ranked player in the field and who has won twice in the last 12 months on the DP World Tour, including in Bahrain recently. He should be comfortable on a links layout and is long enough to be competitive and is refreshed after a few weeks off. The price is probably just a fair one but there is plenty to like about the Englishman.
Jayden Schaper and John Parry are the only other players in the field who are shorter than 30/1 to win this week. Both can be backed at 28/1 on the best prices. Parry has already won in Mauritius this season and he warmed up for this event with a second placed finish in Kenya last week so he will be popular. Schaper has had top five finishes in his last two tournaments and top 10 finishes on two occasions in this event. He was only T31 here in that Challenge Tour event three years ago though.
Main Bets
John Parry has already delivered the goods for me this season and given that he is sixth in strokes gained from tee to green on the DP World Tour this term then it makes sense to back him here. He won in Mauritius so the linksy like feel to this course won’t be a problem for him and given that he was second in Kenya last week we know he is in decent form. He is one of the few players in the field who played this course in the Jonsson Workwear Open a few years ago where he finished just outside the top 20 after a slow start. With a faster start here he should be right in the mix.
JC Ritchie won the tournament that was held here three years ago and he will be my second main bet. He shot 26 under to win that event so that has to be taken notice of. He is still largely operating on the Challenge Tour which would be a bit of a concern but he has had two top 10 finishes in his last four starts so he looks to be hitting the ball well and certainly shouldn’t be disadvantaged if the course has lengthened because of the rain. Any Challenge Tour player isn’t going to be short of motivation to go well here and on a course where he has good memories I’ll pay to see how well he goes again.
Outsiders
Ivan Cantero is another one that I like in this tournament. He is plenty long enough and sits at third on the DP World Tour off the tee in terms of strokes gained and they are statistics that appeal to me here. He had a bit of a no show in Kenya last week but his form has generally been good with top five finishes in the Ras Al Khaimah and in Bahrain. He had a T6 finish in South Africa last year so this part of the world should inspire him and the lengthy course isn’t going to worry him too much so at around 60/1 he feels a dangerous outsider.
I’m going to go full outsider for my last bet which comes in the form of Mikael Lindberg, the Swede who finished in the top 10 in that Challenge Tour event here three years ago and who is ranked at number one for driving distance this week so if length is the factor I think it will be then that is very much an advantage. Lindberg doesn’t have a huge recent form run but he won a Challenge Tour event in South Africa around this time last year so he has good memories of the country and could have conditions to suit so I’ll nibble at 400/1.
Tips
Back J.Parry to win South African Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Spreadex (1/5 1-6)
Back JC.Ritchie to win South African Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 61.00 with Unibet (1/5 1-6)
Back I.Cantero to win South African Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 61.00 with Unibet (1/5 1-6)
Back M.Lindberg to win South African Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 401.00 with Sky Bet (1/5 1-6)
