South African Open: Top 10 power rankings at Randpark GC

The Open Championship is eight months away, but three spots at Royal Portrush are up for grabs this week at the South African Open.

We’ve now arrived to the South African Open held at Randpark GC in Johannesburg. This event is one of the world’s oldest national opens (1903). It became European Tour-sanctioned in 1997. It claims past champions like Gary Player (13 times!), Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen.

The European Tour is going strong into December. The 2019 season has gotten underway in 2018 with two weeks and three tournaments in the book. This year, the South African Open is a merger of the now-defunct Joburg Open. Three spots into the Open Championship go to finishers inside the top 10 not already exempt.

The South African Open has stopped at several courses over the years with Glendower GC holding down the the last five editions.

This year, we’re at Randpark GC which was the 2017 Joburg Open host.

That doesn’t give us a huge sample size to work with, but it’s better than nothing.

Two courses are in play this week: Firethorn and Bushwillow. Both feature Kikuyu grass in the fairways and bentgrass on the greens.

Firethorn measures 7,595 yards for a par 72 and Bushwillow 7,114 for a par 71. Firethorn will be used on the weekend.

Bushwillow is the older of the two and is a tighter, more tree-lined test. Firethorn is the tougher of the two and plays longer, yet a bit wider.

Elevation is a factor at 6,000 feet above sea level.

Weather could also be a factor as rain and thunderstorms are a possibility for the final two or three rounds.

This week features a monstrous 240-player field, but I’ve found a way to carve it down to my 10 best picks to win this week: