Joburg Open Tips

Joburg Open - Royal Johannesburg & Kensington GC,Johannesburg,South Africa

06 February 2014 - 09 February 2014

Tip date: 04 February 2014

This tournament is played over two courses. The East Course is a par 72 of 7592 yards and is one of the longest on tour. A solid tee to green game is important here. Home players seem to feature heavily at the top of the leaderboard and South African players should always be considered for these weakly contested events. Richard Sterne is the defending champion and will be going for a hat trick of Joburg wins. Schwartzel is predictably the clear favourite but the early 4-1 doesn’t appeal.

Name	Odds	Bookmaker
Darren Fichardt	2pt each way 55-1	Bet365	Finishing position: MC Back Darren Fichardt Again
Darren can be a frustrating player to back but there are signs that he’s building up to a big finish. He’s putting as well as ever so when the long game is in order he’s a dangerous player in these events. His current form is good and he seems to be hitting his stride at the right time for a return to his homeland. He managed a T25 last year but we expect him to go a lot better this time around and form figures of T10-T16-T13 in far stronger fields backs this up nicely.
Stephen Webster	2pt each way 40-1	PaddyPower	Finishing position: MC Back Stephen Webster Again
We saw this early price for Steve and simply had to get onboard. He’s managed two T5s in his last two starts and carries serious momentum into this weakly contested event. A T29 in his only Joburg visit last year will have been a useful learning experience and he’ll be looking to do some damage this week and add to his two Tour wins.
David Drysdale	1pt each way 80-1	BetVictor	Finishing position: T69 Back David Drysdale Again
David is a steady player who makes a decent living and is capable of popping up with a punter-friendly finish every so often. Weakly contested co-sanctioned events such as this are exactly where this can happen. We tipped Drysdale here last season and he very nearly rewarded us with a 66-1 place winner. We see no reason why he can’t contend again this time round on a layout that suits. He’s managed two top 3s in his last five starts here together with a T11 and T13 David openly says he needs to perform in these minor events to keep his card each year so look out for him this week where he’ll be highly motivated to get a lucrative finish in the bag.