Following a brief Holiday break, the European Tour returns to action this week at the South African Open hosted by the city of Johannesburg. That is the official title of the event after a merger with the Joburg Open kept the tournament alive. And for the second successive year certain elements of the Joburg are in place. First we have a massive field that consists of around 240 golfers. That staggering number requires both championship courses – Bushwillow and Firethorn – at Randpark Golf Club to be used over the first two days to cut the field. The weekend will play at the longer Firethorn Course, which stretches out to over 7,500 yards. South Africa will be well represented in the field with nearly all of the country’s top golfers competing, including defending champ Louis Oosthuizen, who opened as the betting favorite at online sportsbooks. Visit BookMaker.eu for a complete list of betting odds and to place your wager.
Odds to Win South African Open at BookMaker.eu
Louis Oosthuizen +460
Erik Van Rooyen +910
Shaun Norris +1100
Charl Schwartzel +1100
Thomas Detry +1400
Branden Grace +1400
Eddie Pepperell +2200
Brandon Stone +3000
George Coetzee +3000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +3300
Zander Lombard +3300
Joachim B. Hansen +3300
Andy Sullivan +3500
Min Woo Lee +4000
Richard Sterne +4500
Chris Paisley +5000
Gavin Green +5000
Masahiro Kawamura +5000
Justin Harding +5000
Sam Horsfield +5500
Rasmus Hojgaard +6000
Antoine Rozner +6000
Jamie Donaldson +6600
Connor Syme +7000
Johannes Veerman +7000
Neil Schietekat +7500
Haydn Porteous +8000
Jaco Ahlers +8000
Callum Shinkwin +8000
Wil Besseling +8000
Jaco Van Zyl +8000
Jeff Winther +8500
Tapio Pulkkanen +9000
Sebastian Heisele +9000
Dean Burmester +9000
Sean Crocker +10000
Louis De Jager +10000
Joel Sjoholm +10000
James Morrison +10000
Nino Bertasio +10000
Francesco Laporta +10000
Jbe Kruger +10000
Odds Analysis
Charl Schwartzel +1100
If you’re going to buy a native that isn’t Oosthuizen, Schwartzel is your guy. The results weren’t very good last season and he missed a chunk of time due to injury. The rigors of the Tour schedule weighed heavy and Schwartzel admittedly lost his competitive fire. That changed when he was on the shelf. Realizing you could make a good chunk of coin by playing golf does that to some people. He threatened to win the Alfred Dunhill Championship before settling for a T3 and it looks like he’s back. He’s been a consistent performer at this event with five top-5s in his last six starts, including a T3 last year at Randpark.
Branden Grace +1400
Looking for a fresh start after a horrendous 2019 season, Grace may have found it at the Alfred Dunhill Championship with a T3. It was just his third top-10 over his last 14 Euro Tour starts, so maybe he’s finding a groove that vaulted him into the top-50 world rankings just a short time ago. Either way, Grace should benefit from playing on home soil where he’s been strong throughout his career. He went T7-2-T4 in his last three SA Opens.
Louis Oosthuizen +460
A look back at the last tournament had me picking Oosthuizen when he was the favorite, and he won the thing by six shots, tearing up the easier Bushwillow course with a 62 and never looking back. He finished among the top-7 in both of his Euro Tour stops on home soil and performed well at the Presidents Cup when we last saw him. It’s a total cliché to buy the favorite, but winning is what matters. And there’s a good chance of that happening again.
Zander Lombard +3300
He’s not the best or most well-known of the locals competing this week but keep an eye on Lombard, who has risen through the ranks in his last few starts by playing well in his homeland. The 54-hole leader at the Nedbank Challenge two months ago before slipping to T8, Lombard added a T7 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship finishing as one of the best scramblers in both events. And you can’t go wrong buying a native at this event.
Brandon Stone +3000
Stone has been up and down for the past year, but when he’s up it doesn’t get much higher. Another local with an incredible track record on home soil, Stone captured the SA Open title in 2016 and won the Alfred Dunhill Championship later that year. He finished with a 66 here 13 months ago for a T7 and enters with solid form after a runner-up in Portugal and a T13 in Mauritius.
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 plays the weekend on the 7,506-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 plenty of birdies. Firethorn is a haven for big hitters and also has several scoreable par 5s. Scrambling skills proved effective last year with Oosthuizen ranking fourth in the category. In the 2017 Joburg Open, the top-5 all ranked among the best in that stat category.
TV Coverage: Golf Channel
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