Henrik Stenson Tops Nedbank Golf Challenge Fantasy Picks
My top-10 picks in the Nedbank Golf Challenge field pass over Jaco Van Zyl, even though he’s feeling hot about his prospects this week.
North of the equator we’re contemplating the approach of Old Man Winter, digging out our cold weather gear, keeping our balls in the house rather than leaving them in the car and just generally making all those seasonal accommodations that winter golf requires.
However, south of the equator — at the PGA of Australia Championship and at the Nedbank Golf Challenge — golf is heading into summer this week. And it’s going to continue through February as the European Tour romps across South Africa with occasional dips into the middle east and Australia, so even if you’re suffering winter golf withdrawal in the Chicago area, you’ll still be able to get a vicarious golf fix, starting with the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
Jaco Van Zyl may have a mental edge coming into the Nedbank simply because he’s very much at home on Gary Player’s Sun City killer course and he’s been recording some very respectable finishes: runner-up in the Turkish Airlines Open, 3rd at the Alstom Open de France and 21st in the Race to Dubai.
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But I don’t see Van Zyl outplaying two-time Major Champion Martin Kaymer, Masters winner Charl Schwartzel and Ryder Cup stars Victor Dubuisson and Henrik Stenson on the Sun City track.
Built around an extinct volcano, the Gary Player Golf Course is South Africa’s finest track, combining bedeviling bunkers with kikuyu fairways and bent-grass greens that offer a near-perfect playing surface.
We’re going to see some splendid golf at the Nedbank from a very narrow field where competition should be sharp and close. And for North American fans, Golf Channel is going to take us there starting at 6am ET on Thursday, December 3.
Let’s take a look at my top 10 picks in the field, starting with the low man on the Sun City totem pole, my favorite Frenchman.
Next: #10: It Would Be a Reach for Dubuisson