The European Tour returns to South Africa for the final two events of the year. The healthy field of golfers will first play the South African Open hosted by the city of Johannesburg at the Randpark Golf Club starting Thursday. The number of players scheduled to compete will require both championship courses – Bushwillow and Firethorn – to be used over the first two days to cut the field to 70 players. The weekend will play at the longer Firethorn Course, which stretches out to over 7,500 yards. Randpark will host the event for the first time since 2000.
South Africa will be well represented in the field with nearly all of the country’s top golfers competing and it wouldn’t be surprising to see one of them enjoy success. Louis Oosthuizen is the betting favorite at +605 with Branden Grace ( +1150 ), George Coetzee ( +4300 ) and Brandon Stone ( +5575 ) all on the odds board. Defending champ Chris Paisley topped the field at Glendower Golf Club last year.
Odds To Win South African Open at BookMaker.eu
Louis Oosthuizen +605
Matt Wallace +975
Dylan Frittelli +1050
Branden Grace +1150
Charl Schwartzel +1650
Dean Burmester +1875
Erik Van Rooyen +2555
Romain Langasque +3825
Shaun Norris +4050
Chris Paisley +4150
Justin Harding +4150
Sean Crocker +4150
George Coetzee +4300
Matthieu Pavon +4550
Pablo Larrazabal +5500
Thomas Aiken +5525
Richard Sterne +5550
Kurt Kitayama +5555
Darren Fichardt +5555
Brandon Stone +5575
Jeunghun Wang +6050
Tapio Pulkkanen +6475
Bernd Wiesberger +6600
Scott Vincent +7525
Masahiro Kawamura +7575
Haydn Porteous +7600
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +8500
Clement Sordet +9000
Scott Jamieson +9000
Trevor Immelman +9500
Jaco Van Zyl +9500
Joachim B. Hansen +9800
Alejandro Canizares +10000
Grant Forrest +10000
Zander Lombard +10000
Louis De Jager +10500
Adilson Da Silva +11000
David Lipsky +11000
David Drysdale +11500
Kim Koivu +11500
Ross McGowan +11500
Ernie Els +12000
Callum Shinkwin +12000
Paul Peterson +12000
Gonzalo Fdez-castano +12000
Jacques Blaauw +12000
Dimitrios Papadatos +12500
Gavin Moynihan +13500
Yikeun Chang +13500
Jeff Winther +13500
Odds Analysis
Louis Oosthuizen +605
It’s hard to imagine the native not being in the mix this week. Some of Oosthuizen’s best golf has come on home soil with a third-place showing at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City just a month ago, and he hasn’t finished outside the top-10 in his last four events in his homeland. His average over the last 12 tour rounds is below 70 and he’s poised for another strong showing. One drawback, though, is the length of Firethorn. The average course length in his wins is less than 7,000 yards.
Erik Van Rooyen +2555
Enjoyed a nice Tour season that ended with four rounds in the 60s and a T26 at the DP World Tour Championship and comes here knowing he can best the course. Van Rooyen grabbed a runner-up finish at the 2017 Joburg Open, which took place at Randpark GC, by carding a final-round 66. He averaged nearly 310 yards off the tee last season and that distance will help on the longer Firethorn, much like it did at the Joburg. There is also some value at his current odds.
Matt Wallace +975
If recent form can determine a winner, Wallace is definitely worth taking a look at. He’s coming off a season most golfers dream about with three European Tour victories and a 10th place finish in the Race to Dubai standings. He once won five consecutive tournaments on a developmental tour before turning pro, so you know he can swing it. And he has plenty of confidence heading into this event with a pair of top-5s at the Nedbank Golf Challenge and the DP World Tour Championship.
Justin Harding +4150
Harding had an incredible rise in the world rankings last season due in large part to four victories. He wasn’t even among the top 700 golfers in the world when he teed off here last year and missed the cut. But he returns as the No. 81 golfer in the OWGR after winning two South African Sunshine Tour events. He was the third-round co-leader at last week’s Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open before falling off the pace into fourth. He comes here confident and in good form with plenty of value.
Course: Randpark Golf Club
Due to the size of the field, the Randpark Golf Club will use both its championship courses. The field will play one round each on Bushwillow and Firethorn before the whittled down group of 70 plays the weekend on the 7,504-yard, par-71 Firethorn layout. Bushwillow is much shorter and the easier of the two courses so players will look to make up strokes on that end. The course is just over 7,100 yards and tight in spots, but yields to plenty of birdies. Firethorn is a haven for big hitters and also has several scoreable par 5s. Scrambling skills proved effective at last year’s Joburg Open played here with the top-5 all ranked among the best in that category.
TV Coverage: Golf Channel
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