Damien Kayat previews the 2022 MyGolfLife Open taking place at the Pecanwood Country Club in Pretoria.
2022 DP World Tour Championship-Sunshine Tour
MyGolfLife Open
Pecanwood Country Club, Pretoria
10th-13th March
DP World Tour lands in the Repbulic
The DP World Tour stays in Africa this week, moving south from Kenya to Pretoria for the inaugural staging of the MyGolfLife Open (not exactly the catchiest name). The Tour will be looking to exorcise the demons from their ill-fated first trip to South Africa.
November’s Joburg Open was supposed to kickstart this new era of the DP World Tour. But the Omicron variant wreaked havoc on proceedings, reducing the event to 36 holes and seeing many of the participants simply abandon the tournament.
The subsequent SA Open-originally meant to be co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour- was played purely as a Sunshine Tour event. The Alfred Dunhill Championship was scrapped altogether.
The tour has arrived back in South Africa three months later to host two more co-sanctioned events.
Pecanwood – bombers paradise
Officially opened in 1996, Pecanwood Country Club has the distinction of being South Africa’s first Jack Nicklaus signature course. It is a beautiful course, perched on the banks of the spectacular Hartbeespoort Dam.
This is a flat layout with pretty generous fairways. This should suit bombers who can pretty much tee off with reckless abandon. The fairways are kikuyu while the putting surfaces are bentgrass.
You also have to fancy the South African players who are particularly familiar with this brand of kikuyu. While this course measures an eye-popping 7697 yards, it will play significantly shorter due to altitude.
Plenty of contenders this week
Ashun Wu will be looking to make it back-to-back titles after his victory in Kenya last week. Dean Burmester is a massive ball-striker who should pose a real threat this week.
Bernd Wiesberger will feel disappointed that he missed out on TPC Sawgrass this year. The world Number 67 needs to find some form to enter this year’s Major Championships (only the world’s top 50 are guaranteed entry into all of the Major Championships).
Adri Arnaus is also a form player who hits the ball an absolute mile. This is actually a reasonably decent field considering all the travel permutations. I’m surprised that a healthy number of European players will be in competition this week.
The likes of Armitage, Detry and Jordan Smith add some panache to what could have been a dour Sunshine Tour field.
To Win Outright:
Dean Burmester 14/1 | Bernd Wiesberger 18/1 | Adri Arnaus 18/1 | Adrian Meronk 22/1 | Jordan Smith 22/1
Value Bets
JC Ritchie- To Win 35/1 | To Place 15/2
I’m opting for a really top ball-striker who has been enjoying a purple patch on the Sunshine Tour. He finished 8th at the farcical Joburg Open and followed that up with a 4th place in the Dimension Data Pro-Am. He then picked up back-to-back victories at the Cape Town Open and Workwear Open. This week could represent a great chance for him to make that crucial DP World Tour breakthrough.
Andy Sullivan- To Win 75/1 | To Place 16/1
Andy Sullivan is a four-time winner at this level and I can look past his dismal 2022 form in this field. His form stats this year read MC-47MC. But he has taken some time off and he has decent form on Nicklaus courses. He has finished 12th at the Irish Open hosted by Mount Juliet. He also finished in a creditable 13th at the London Club. But I think the thing that attracts me most to Sullivan is his South African form. He has wins at Royal Johannesburg and Glendower (both courses played at altitude). He also has top-three finishes at Gary Player and Leopard Creek. He can go super low and 75/1 looks a ludicrous price for a proven winner.
The Man to Beat- Richard Bland- To Win- 33/1 | To Place 7/1
This goes slightly contrary to my heavy hitter approach this week. I just think there’s plenty of value for Bland at 33/1. It has obviously been a fairy-tale period for the Englishman, who won his maiden title at last year’s British Masters (this at the 478th time of asking). He also had a share of the lead at the US Open before collapsing quite badly at the weekend. Crucially, he only recently finished runner-up to Viktor Hovland at January’s Dubai Desert Classic (a prestigious Rolex Series event). The 49-year-old isn’t able to launch 300-yard drives on command. But his beautiful wedge game should give him plenty of scoring chances this week.
