European Tour: Previewing the South African Open

The European Tour returns after its winter break this week, with the South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg the starting point for 2020.

The South African Open is one of the oldest national championships in the world of golf, and it has the honour of being the first tournament of the new decade when it gets going on Thursday.

The South African Open has been going since 1903, with Gary Player having the best record in the tournament, winning on home soil 13 times over a 25-year span.

There are plenty of other multiple-time winners as well, with the likes of Ernie Els, Trevor Immelman, and Retief Goosen all having success at their national championship.

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Recently, no-one has been able to dominate the South African Open, with eight different winners across the last eight editions of the tournament. Louis Oosthuizen is the reigning champion, having taken his home title for the first time in December 2018.

The likes of Chris Paisley, Brandon Stone, Andy Sullivan, and Henrik Stenson have all been victorious at the event over the last decade.

Oosthuizen headlines this year’s field, with the World No.20 looking to become the first player to win this event in consecutive years since Trevor Immelman did so for his two wins at the tournament, in 2003 and 2004.

Oosthuizen will feature alongside young prodigy Jayden Trey Schaper, who also featured at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout in a trio of South Africans.

England’s Andy Sullivan will play alongside the South African duo of Erik van Rooyen and Branden Grace for the first two days, while Charl Schwartzel, Eddie Pepperell, and Thomas Detry have been placed together for Thursday and Friday.

Rasmus Højgaard, the 18-year-old who won the AFRASIA BANK Mauritius Open last month, and now sits in 2nd on the Race to Dubai leaderboard, will play alongside Brandon Stone and Daniel van Tonder for his first two rounds of 2020.

The event will be played over two courses for the first two days, with both the Firethorn and Bushwillow courses in action at Randpark GC, the same venue as the last South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg.

Play gets underway at 06:30 local time (GMT+2) on the 1st of both courses. Terence Mogapi, Martin Vorster and Quintin Wilsnach get things underway on the Firethorn course, while the Bushwillow course sees Kyle McClatchie, Callum Mowat and Jean-Baptiste Gonnet start off.

European Tour: South African Open Power Rankings. dark. Next

Selected Tee Times (F = Firethorn, B = Bushwillow):

08:15 (B) & 11:45 (F): Daniel van Tonder (RSA), Rasmus Højgaard (DEN), Brandon Stone (RSA)
08:35 (B) & 12:10 (F): Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Jayden Trey Schaper (RSA), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA)
11:45 (F) & 08:15 (B): Zander Lombard (RSA), Gavin Green (MAS), George Coetzee (RSA)
11:55 (F) & 08:25 (B): Erik van Rooyen (RSA), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Branden Grace (RSA)
12:10 (F) & 08:35 (B): Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Eddie Pepperell (ENG), Thomas Detry (BEL)

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