Who’s who of Joburg Open to tee it up at Houghton this week

Good luck trying to predict the winner of this week’s Joburg Open at Houghton Golf Club.

No less than nine former winners of the tournament will tee it up from Thursday, including two-time champion from 2010 and 2011 Charl Schwartzel.

The former Masters tournament winner is back in South Africa and not only playing the Joburg Open this weekend but also the SA Open at Blair Atholl next week and the Alfred Dunhill at Leopard Creek the following week.

The co-sanctioned tournament — between the Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour — is the first of the new season DP World Tour season, and the first event in the 2024 Open qualifying series. The top three finishers not already qualified for the Open at Troon next July will book their spots at the 152nd Open.

‘Special’

“Johannesburg has always been special to me. I’ve had good success in this area and especially at the Joburg Open so I decided to make a comeback here and I’m excited about it,” said Schwartzel.

England’s Dan Bradburg, who was a first-time winner at last year’s event, is back to try defend his title after a solid season on the DP World Tour.

“It’s great that so many former champions are back,” said Bradbury.

“This is a great event on a good golf course and this is a strong field this week. It’s a really nice feeling coming back. It’s been a fantastic year for me and it all started here in Joburg.”

Past champions

The other former champions joining Schwartzel and Bradbury in the field this week are Thriston Lawrence, Branden Grace, Joachim B Hansen, Haydn Porteous, Shubhankar Sharma, Darren Fichardt and Andy Sullivan.

Lawrence, who won in 2021, has gone on to win three more times on the DP World Tour, including the SA Open last year.

“This tournament changed my life,” said Lawrence. “It’s nice to be home and on a golf course I’m very familiar with having played here in my junior days. I’m looking forward to the week.”