JOBURG OPEN AT A GLANCE
The European Tour touches down on South African soil for the third time this season at the Joburg Open, and Grant Winter gives you the full brief on the week ahead…
REWIND
Home town hero Haydn Porteous claimed his maiden European Tour title last year at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club courtesy of a flawless closing three-under-par 69, finishing two clear of countryman Zander Lombard. The 21-year-old Porteous became the third-youngest South African winner in European Tour history after Charl Schwartzel (at the 2005 Alfred Dunhill Championship) and Anton Haig (2007 Johnnie Walker Classic), earning a place in The Open Championship in the process. “Words can’t describe how I feel right now, it’s surreal, to be honest,” he said following his victory. “I’ve been battling with my golf for the last few months, and hats off to (fitness coach) Garth Milne for all the strategy and game plan and gym. “When I get home and things start to calm down I’m going to have a proper think about it. All the doors that are open because of winning the Joburg Open, it’s a dream come true.”
BITE-SIZED HISTORY
In 2007 the inaugural edition of the Joburg Open saw Argentina’s Ariel Canete capture his maiden European Tour title in impressive fashion, closing with three birdies in the final four holes.
Since then the tournament has proved to be prosperous for local golfers. Only two other players from outside South Africa have won the Joburg Open in the past 10 years – Denmark’s Anders Hansen in 2009 and Englishman Andy Sullivan in 2015.
Richard Sterne and Charl Schwartzel have picked up two victories apiece, with Sterne bidding to become the first player to win the title three times when he returns to the field this week.
Branden Grace, George Coetzee and last year’s champion Porteous round off the roll-call of South African winners of the event.
THE FIELD
The Joburg Open has the largest field of the season, with 210 players gathering at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club this week.
The 2016 Ryder Cup Captain Darren Clarke is joined in the field by fellow Major champions Trevor Immelman and Y E Yang.
Graeme Storm will be aiming to continue his remarkable story when he returns to South African soil. The Englishman beat Rory McIlroy in a play-off to win the BMW SA Open hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni in January, just 84 days after he thought he had lost his European Tour card. He missed a par putt on the 18th green at the Portugal Masters last October to lose his playing privileges by just 100 points, but was handed a reprieve when Patrick Reed opted not to play the Final Series.
Leading the local charge are reigning champion Porteous and former winners Coetzee and Sterne.
THE COURSE
Steeped in history, the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club is one of the most prestigious golf clubs in South Africa, and has hosted every edition of the Joburg Open.
The club boasts two championship golf courses – the East Course and the West Course.
The club is the product of a merger between Royal Johannesburg Golf Club and Kensington Golf Club in 1998 and offers lush, sweeping playing areas, quick, undulating greens and fairways lined with a variety of well-established trees.
The East Course is a championship layout, the 7 658yard, par 72 has played host to seven South African Open Championships, as well as the Joburg Open inaugurated at Royal in 2007.
DID YOU KNOW
Porteous will be looking to make a successful defence of his Joburg Open title. He would be the second South African to win the title back-to-back, following Schwartzel in 2010-2011.
Last year Brandon Stone won the BMW SA Open hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni. Seven days later Porteous won the Joburg Open. It was the first time South Africa had witnessed two firsttime winners on the European Tour in consecutive events since John Fourie (1977 Callers of Newcastle) and Tiene Britz (1977 German Open).
Sterne will attempt to become the first player to win the Joburg Open three times, having triumphed in 2008 and 2013. Four of his six European Tour titles have come on home soil, including his last four.
Storm will be hoping to repeat his triumph of last month when he saw off Rory McIlroy to win the BMW SA Open. The last player to win South Africa’s national open and the Joburg Open in the same season was another Englishman, Sullivan, who achieved the feat in 2015.
The Joburg Open has the largest field of the season, with 210 players.