The Desert Swing is over and the European Tour returns to South Africa for the penultimate time this season this week for the Tshwane Open. This will be the fifth European Tour event in South Africa and the last until November so it is a big week for the nation.
After the thrills and spills of the desert for the last three weeks it has to be said we’re back down to earth with a bit of a bump this week in terms of field strength but the golf course is good which should make for a competitive week at the very least.
For the second year in a row the Pretoria Country Club is the venue for this tournament. Last year it staged an extremely tight tournament where no fewer than six men were tied for the lead going into the final round so a repeat of that excitement would be more than welcome here.
The course is a par 70 and to call it tight would be an understatement. Almost the entire course is treelined with tight fairways and small greens which really puts an emphasis on a tee to green game especially with the rough being clingy and not the easiest to play out of. The relief to the players is that the course measures just 6,830 yards so it isn’t long at all and in fact the driver won’t be needed too often.
With water in play on a lot of the holes be it through ponds or the river that dissects the majority of the back nine there is a real emphasis on ball striking and accuracy here.
Charl Schwartzel headlines the field this week and he is the 6/1 favourite as a result. Next in the betting comes the defending champion George Coetzee. He is playing on his home course this week and is 15/2 to retain the title. South African duo Trevor Fisher Jr and Jaco van Zyl have both shown some form this season and are 20/1 respectively. It is 28/1 bar that quartet.
I’m no fan of Schwartzel but it must be noted that he has won a tournament this season. I’m not sure this is the course for him. I certainly wouldn’t be putting anyone off Coetzee. This place should suit him well again as it should Fisher Jr. I’m not sure van Zyl is quite content with all parts of his game.
I’m going with four picks this week which I think are all value. Lee Slattery was going to be my main selection this week but he has withdrawn so I’ll include the man I toyed with instead.
That is David Horsey, an Englishman who was inside the top 10 here last year. I’m not surprised with that because this course should suit him down to the ground. Horsey is very accurate off the tee, competent if the wind blows and hits plenty of greens in regulation.
He showed all of those qualities when he landed the Trophee Hassan II last year in Morocco and I fancy him to go well here. If the putter is in good form, and on small greens he doesn’t need to be holing monsters, then I think Horsey will be right in the mix once again.
My next pick is a man who went very well in Singapore a few weeks ago. In fact Keith Horne was in the final group of that tournament, a tournament which had the likes of Jordan Spieth and Byeong-Hun An in the field so that should have given him a lot of confidence even though he couldn’t quite stay with that company in the final round.
Horne is another one who hits it straight and gives himself plenty of chances and coming off the confidence of that run in Singapore I wouldn’t be surprised if he attacks the hole a lot more with the short stick and that could make his 50/1 quotes look very big come the back nine on Sunday.
When it comes to straight hitting from tee to green one man in this field jumps out at me and that is Fabrizio Zanotti. It has to be said that he hasn’t really performed brilliantly in South African conditions too often but in this field and around this golf course I just can’t ignore him at 66/1.
Zanotti is straight as a die off the tee and he will relish the short length of the course which means he doesn’t have to crunch everything to be competitive like he did in the Desert Swing. We’ve seen in plenty of events in the second half of last season that firing into the greens and his work on the greens are perfectly good enough for this field so I expect a strong week from the Paraguayan.
Finally I’m going to take a man who has already won twice around this course in his career as a bit of a long shot. That is Hennie Otto. His wins came in the now defunct Vodacom Championship on the Sunshine Tour but not a lot has changed around here to mean he can’t go well again.
You have to place faith in the fact a return to a successful hunting ground will being out his best game because his form in recent times has been very disappointing but we’re getting 100/1 on him for a reason and that is because we are taking that risk but if the positive memories revive him we know he is straight enough and solid enough to push a field like this very close.
Back D.Horsey to win Tshwane Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with BetVictor (1/4 1-5)
Back K.Horne to win Tshwane Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Ladbrokes (1/4 1-5)
Back F.Zanotti to win Tshwane Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 67.00 with Stan James (1/4 1-5)
Back H.Otto to win Tshwane Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 101.00 with Betfred (1/4 1-5)
