Fantasy Golf Tournament Preview- South African Open (European Tour Package)

OVERVIEW

The South African Open gets a new host course this year, but luckily, it’s not new to us as the 2017 Joburg Open was hosted by the Randpark Golf Club. With “new” courses in the rotation, we definitely want to look back at previous events held at the course, as well as corollary courses and this week we get to do that by looking back at the Tshwane Open & Nedbank Challenge as South Africa hosts events towards the end of the Race to Dubai Championship. The course features a heavy dose of bunkering and plays above 5,000 ft at sea level, so the ball will be traveling a bit further this week. Bombers will be able to hit it further, but so will everyone else of course. The main issue with that is dialing in approach shots the first couple of days. Most of the field is native South Africans so I don’t think they’ll have much of an issue adapting, as will a lot of the upper tier of talent in the field as they’ve most likely played in RSA in the past month, it’s just something to keep in mind. Before I get into the picks, I would recommend throwing your GPP lineups in cash games this week as well as the gap between the two contest types has extended a bit as of late and it’s a nice way to make sure you get 2x return on your investment.

TOURNAMENT BACKGROUND

• The Course
• Randpark Golf Club – Bushwillow & Firethorn Courses
• Par: 71 (Bushwillow) one round pre-cut, Par 72 (Firethorn) One round pre-cut, both weekend rounds
• Yardage: 7,100 yards & 7,600 yards
• Greens: Bentgrass
• Location: Randburg, South Africa
• Past Champions: None at this venue
• 2018 – January: Chris Paisley -21 over Branden Grace
• 2017: Graeme Storm -18 in a playoff over Rory McIlroy
• 2016: Brandon Stone -14 over Christiaan Bezuidenhout
• 2015: Andy Sullivan -11 in a playoff over Charl Schwartzel
• 2014: No event

KEY STATS TO TARGET

• Strong Emphasis – Greens in Regulation, Scrambling, SG: OTT, SG: APP, Sand Saves
• Important – Current Form

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