The South African Open returns to Glendower Golf Club this week and our Ben Coley expects Romain Wattel to relish the test.
Glendower Golf Club makes its return to the South African Open rota this week, the first time the Gauteng course has hosted the event since Vijay Singh won the title in 1997.
Much has changed since then, with the course undergoing serious renovations in 2008. Given the 16-year gap and said changes, which include a complete overhaul of all bunkers and greens, the only worthwhile course form we have comes courtesy of the BMG Classic, a regular Sunshine Tour event.
The first edition of the BMG to be staged here was won by Canada's Graham DeLaet, who gave a ringing endorsement of Glendower. "It's a real gem," he said. "I've played a lot in different parts of the world and this is one of the top courses I've come across."
George Coetzee isn't in the field this week, but he too has taken time out to praise the course, describing it as "a proper golf course, as good as you'll see anywhere in Europe", and with slick greens and tight fairways it really should serve up a decent test as has been the case in the 54-hole BMG.
That being said, time and time again we see European Tour professionals tear up these traditional South African layouts and even at just under 7,000 metres, Glendower does not have length as a great defence given that the course is a few hundred metres above sea level and the ball therefore flies further.
At the head of the betting would've been defending champion Henrik Stenson, for whom this event acted as a springboard to the best year of his life. Stenson's Race To Dubai heroics really can be traced back to this event, albeit at Serengeti, and at peak fitness he'd have been extremely hard to beat.
However, he's understandably withdrawn from the event as he works out how to spend his winnings and, more likely, to enjoy some family time after a hectic schedule since mid-summer which has seen him pick up a niggling wrist injury.
With Stenson absent I'm turning to Romain Wattel to spearhead my attack on the tournament.
There's absolutely no denying that this has been an incredible year for French golf. Triggered by Raphael Jacquelin's Open de Espana victory, Julien Quesne, Gregory Bourdy and Victor Dubuisson have stepped up and delivered big, winning performances in big events, while even Wattel's former Eisenhower Trophy team-mate Alexander Levy went close in Germany.
With two of that quintet representing their country in the World Cup at Royal Melbourne this week, I've no doubt whatsoever that Wattel will be both inspired by their performances and the rewards they've brought, as well as desperate to join them in the winners' circle.
While Dubuisson rightly is regarded as the future torch-carrier of golf in France as the nation builds towards the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National, let's not forget that Wattel is a formerly top-class amateur who actually won on the Challenge Tour while still among the unpaid ranks.
Having safely navigated a course through Q School, he then made his debut in this very event in 2010, and a glance at the scoring shows that he did as well as anyone close to him could've dared to dream, let alone expect. On a leaderboard which saw Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel fill the first four places, Wattel tied for fifth with Robert Rock.
So here we have a player with all the motivation in the world and some very positive memories of his only start in the event, and I'm encouraged enough by recent form which includes a top-10 finish in Italy and a share of 26th in Portugal, where he drove the ball particularly well.
It's hard to know exactly what this course will demand but from what I've read whoever tops the total driving stats will go well, and Wattel is likely to be up there if maintaining the form he showed in Portugal.
Wattel's light schedule doesn't look at all dissimilar to that of Dubuisson prior to his victory in Turkey and, just like Dubuisson, Wattel could upstage the bigger names here on a course which should play to his strengths.
Charl Schwartzel is rightly favourite for a tournament he's desperate to win and, unlike most of the world's best, he's had a light schedule lately and won a low-key event in Asia two starts ago.
If he turns up and produces his best at a course he played as a junior he will of course take all the beating, but I'm put off by the fact you have to go back almost a decade for the only time he was even second in the event and for a player of his calibre his record is not great; certainly not enough to take 5/1.
History does show that the top five should contain at least two or three of the home contingent but only a select few look really good enough to go through with their effort, with so many flattering to deceive in the face of what would be a life-changing win.
With that in mind it's probably best to focus on those who are both experienced and proven at this level and I wouldn't put anyone off Hennie Otto at 33/1, given how well he's playing at present and the fact that he's actually won this event before.
However, at bigger prices the case for Garth Mulroy and Darren Fichardt looks equally as strong and I'll narrowly side with the latter.
Mulroy would probably have been a bet at 66/1 but at 50s I can just pass him over, particularly given that he was some way detached in last place in Dubai, some 22 shots behind Fichardt.
My selection showed his game to be in good order with an opening 64 a couple of weeks ago and commented after that round on how it'd been coming together for a while, he just needed to make some putts.
The concern would be that he struck the ball well last week - Fichardt ranked 14th for greens hit and fourth in driving accuracy - but struggled somewhat on the greens statistically.
However, I'm inclined to think positively about a share of 21st at a course which is probably a shade long for him; it's perfectly possible that with long-iron approaches he simply couldn't get the ball close enough to the hole.
Here, at a venue which is not especially long and is well defined by trees, my instinct is to favour those who strike it well, particularly off the tee, and that certainly is the case with Fichardt.
"It's always nice to get back home and it's good to have four in a row," he said earlier this week.
"Glendower is a very old, traditional golf course. I've played there a lot since I was very young, competing in amateur tournaments and such like. It's a great course.
"The past four weeks have been unbelievably awesome tournaments, but there has been a lot of travelling and I can't wait to get back to South Africa.
"My game's very good and a couple of things I've been working on have come to pass, so it's all good."
Earlier this year Fichardt won the Africa Open by a couple of shots - ironically thanks to a red-hot putter - and a week later was second in the Tshwane Open.
In this event last year he finished sixth and that's six times in his last 14 SA Open starts that Fichardt has been inside the top six. He probably should've won it at nearby Randpark Club in 2000 but has come a long way since and, with four European Tour victories to his name, local favourite Fichardt should go well.
Finally for the outright staking plan, I'm compelled to back Scott Jamieson at the prices available as he has plenty in his favour.
The Scot has enjoyed a superb year and it all stems from his performances in South Africa, where he got a first European Tour title in the Nelson Mandela Championship, followed it up with a third in the Alfred Dunhill and then finished second in the Volvo Golf Champions.
So, form figures of 1-3-2 for his last three starts in South Africa give reason for hope and it's only a month or so ago that he came within millimetres of the European Tour's first ever 59, which offers evidence that his game is in decent shape.
More recently he putted nicely and closed out with a birdie-eagle finish to climb inside the top 30 in the DP World Tour Championship and with that momentum behind him I wouldn't be at all surprised were he to win again in South Africa.
Often, these events throw up a fine opportunity to snare a first-round leader at a huge price. As ever, there are plenty you could make a case for but perhaps none more so than Neil Schietekat.
Schietekat lives in nearby Johannesburg and will have plenty of support, but I'm not sure that will carry him all the way through the event, even if he remains a player of some potential.
But having won for the first time earlier this season and finished sixth last time out he's full of confidence right now and his closing 66 in last year's BMG Classic was the round of the day in tough conditions.
He opened with a round of 69 there a few weeks ago, again in poor weather, and when winning the Platinum Classic shot 65 in round one. Indeed, he's been starting well for some time now and at the price he's worth a small bet.
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