European Tour: Joburg Open top 10 power rankings

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - FEBRUARY 23: George Coetzee of South Africa hits his tee shot on the 9th during day one of the Joburg Open at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club on February 23, 2017 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images) /

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JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – FEBRUARY 23: George Coetzee of South Africa hits his tee shot on the 9th during day one of the Joburg Open at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club on February 23, 2017 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images) /

George Coetzee joins a stable of South Africans who have a good shot at hoisting the trophy this week. The 31-year-old is coming off of a T9 finish at the Mauritius Open where he was in the 60s in three rounds en route to his 10th top-10 in the calendar year. Coetzee’s made his last seven cuts and has five top-25s since September. All he’s lacking in 2017 is a win.

He’ll be disappointed this year couldn’t be held at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington. Coetzee won the Joburg Open there in 2014 and has seven top-25s.

In the 2017 season, which ended a couple weeks ago in Dubai, Coetzee finished third in putts per GIR, 18th in sand saves, but 129th in driving accuracy. If he can keep the ball in play, his short game has been solid as of late.

Coetzee should be well-cheered this week as he’s from Pretoria, just an hour’s drive north of Johannesburg.

This is his fifth start in six weeks for his 30th overall in 2017.

He was first in the field in driving distance (335 yards) last week in Mauritius.

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