There's no Rory McIlroy here this year, who was edged out by Graeme Storm last year, but the market leaders point to the home grown boys in the shape of Grace, Schwartzel & Frittelli. The home players tend to fare well here, mainly due to the kikuyu fairways but we have seen recent winners from Europe of late with Andy Sullivan prevailing in 2015, Madsen in 2014 and Stenson in 2012. Storms victory last year made it 4 European winners in the last 5 stagings.Looking at those winners alone emphasizes the requirement for accuracy at Glendower. The par-72, 7564 yds course is described as a traditional course where you will need to be striking the ball well.
My shortlist for the event has 13 players of which 5 are less than 40/1. The 5 are the leading South African's in the market and I think its fair game to oppose them in the opening tournament of the new year. Based on the new strategies, I do want to focus on some value this week and Erik Van Rooyen, Aaron Rai and Jinho Choi are my immediate focus. I had Marc Warren penciled in based on his form towards the end of season despite not having played here before but with the lack of course form here as well as mediocre South African form, he's omitted but remains a contender for DFS inclusion. Ten players who met the strategy criteria were left off my final shortlist but are being recorded for observation purposes
Recent Challenge Tour winner, Van Rooyen will have a home game this week in Johannesburg and will be keen to emulate his efforts in his hometown last time out when finishing 2nd at the Joburg Open in December and securing a place at Carnoustie next July. The 27 year old enters his 5th season as a pro and will be buoyed by his win at The Hainan Open last October as well as his win at The Eye of Africa last February, here in Joburg where he won a three man playoff which included Dylan Frittelli. At 50/1 he's worth taking.
Jinho Choi from South Korea is nicely priced this week following recent form. The 33 year old is looking to secure a card outside of Korea and isn't afraid to travel. He now sits inside the worlds top- 200 having not missed a cut since 2016. He's started the new season with progressive figures of 48-20-8 meaning he meets strategy#1 and becomes a selection for me here this week @ 150.00
Aaron Rai is too big this week as he returns to Joburg looking to add to his 7th & 19th place finishes at the Joburg Opens last year. 80/1 for a player that excels where accuracy is required cannot be overlooked and the price may be due to missed cuts recorded in Mauritius and Hong Kong but he's a good few ticks above where I thought he would be (I made him 50/1 here)
Selections:
1.00 pt e/w E.Van Rooyen @ 51.00
0.25 pt win Jinho Choi @ 150.00
1.00 pts e/w A. Rai @ 81.00
1.75 pts TOP20 Jinho Choi @ 5.00
1.75 pts TOP20 Jinho Choi @ 5.00
No comments:
Post a Comment