European Tour: Alfred Dunhill Championship Power Rankings
By Matt Coles
The 2020 European Tour season begins on Thursday in South Africa, as the Alfred Dunhill Championship kicks off the campaign.
Just four days after the amazing finale of the 2019 season at the DP World Tour Championship, the Tour gets going again, with Leopard Creek CC playing host to the Alfred Dunhill Championship, the season-opening event.
The tournament is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Sunshine Tour, with it now being the flagship event of the latter.
The very first Alfred Dunhill Championship played at Houghton GC in Johannesburg, was cut down to three rounds due to torrential rain, but ever since the event moved to Leopard Creek CC in 2004, it has been clear blue skies and sunshine in Malalane.
The venue was established in 1996 and is another Gary Player designed course. It is well-renowned and sits on the very edge of the Kruger National Park.
The signature hole on the course is the par-3 16th, with the tee and green on the 199-yard hole separated by a vast expanse of water, one of several water hazards on the golf course.
The 18th hole features an island green, one that could see players going for it in 2, but they will need a good tee-shot down the 546-yard par-5 closing hole.
With the quick turnaround after the DP World Tour Championship, which saw Jon Rahm take the title, and with it, the Race to Dubai crown, the majority of the big names on the Tour will not feature in South Africa this week.
However, that will give others a chance to get their hands on a trophy, and there will be plenty of home favourites in the hunt for the first title of the new season.
So who is in with a shot this week? There are a couple of names who are relative unknowns compared the winners of the last few Rolex Series events which brought the 2019 season to a close, and there are plenty of South Africans on our Power Rankings for the Alfred Dunhill Championship.