PREVIEW: 2023 DP World Tour – Jonsson Workwear Open

2022/2023 DP World Tour
Jonsson Workwear Open
The Club at Steyn City, Johannesburg, South Africa
23rd-26th March

Matthew Baldwin never showed any signs of nerves last week, romping home to victory by seven shots to claim his first DP World Tour title at the inaugural SDC Championship.

Jonsson Workwear Open

The tour will remain in South Africa for the second staging of the Jonsson Workwear Open. This event was staged last year as a co-sanctioned event between the Challenge Tour and the Sunshine Tour. JC Ritchie won the event hosted at the revered Durban Country Club.

This year’s event has been upgraded in status and will now be co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour. It also moves to the Highveld, with the tour descending on the Club at Steyn City.

This event actually feels more like a spiritual successor to last year’s one-and-done Steyn City Championship. For the second week running, the DP World Tour will be played on a Jack Nicklaus-design.

Steyn City

The lush environs of St Francis Links will be replaced by the slightly more arid landscape of Steyn City. In contrast to last week’s links layout, the Club at Steyn City is a basic resort course that has been built with the recreational golfer in mind.

Opened in 2015, the Club features water on seven holes and 75 bunkers scattered throughout. Don’t let that 7,700 yardage fool you. This event is played at altitude and the ball will fly through the air.

Still, I would favour distance over accuracy on these generous fescue-rye grass fairways. There is little vegetation and the rough is extremely forgiving.

With courses such as these, it often boils down to little more than a putting contest. Shaun Norris won last year’s Steyn City Championship ranked first for Strokes: Gained Putting. Players will need to go really low this week if they want any chance of succeeding.

The Contenders

I’m quite perplexed that Jordan Smith is still leading betting markets. People are putting a lot of faith into him after storming home to victory at last year’s Portugal Masters.

But his form has been ordinary and his 23rd-place finish at St Francis Golf Links hardly inspired confidence. Adri Arnaus looks far more appealing after another excellent runner-up finish.

The likes of Joost Luiten and Julien Brun have to be respected in a field such as this. But you have to keep an eye out for the SA contingent (even the ones who aren’t in spectacular form). South African players just have a habit of finding their best form in home conditions.

Past Winners (Jonsson Workwear Open)

2022: JC Ritchie (26)

The Steyn City Championship

2022: Shaun Norris (-25)

To Win Outright:

Jordan Smith 18/1 | Adri Arnaus 18/1 | Joost Luiten 22/1 | Julien Brun 28/1 | Oliver Bekker 30/1

Value Bets

Thriston Lawrence- To Win 50/1 | To Place 19/2

I think the burly South African will be licking his lips at this week’s test. He has not looked back since winning the farcical Joburg Open in 2021. His five subsequent DP World Tour starts in Africa have yielded finishes in form figures of 19-2-9-8-13. That eighth-place finish came at this week’s venue in last year’s Steyn City Championship. He won the European Masters in August and the SA Open just prior to Christmas. He loves playing in his home country and he looks magnificent value at 50/1.

Shaun Norris- To Win 50/1 | To Place 11/1

Shaun Norris is really the defending champ here (despite JC Ritchie winning the inaugural staging of this specific event). Norris demolished this course last year, winning by three strokes with a ridiculous total of 25-under-par. You can’t ignore that. His recent form hasn’t been overly encouraging. But there have been slight signs of improvement. He finished 20th at the Kenya Open- with a closing 63 equalling the best round of the week. And he was 10th going into the final round last week before a 75 sunk him down the leaderboard. But just look at this: he was 3rd and 4th for SG: Putting in his last two efforts. That should set him up perfectly for a title defence this week.

The Man to Beat- Matthieu Pavon- To Win 33/1 | To Place 7/1

Frenchman Matthieu Pavon has emerged as one of the more consistent practitioners over the past few seasons (obviously benefitting from the real downgrade in quality over that period). He has finished 9th, 6th, 33rd and 8th in his last four events. It really looks like that maiden win is just around the corner. His 8th last week was really down to brilliant ball striking. Crucially, Pavon finished last week ranked 6th in Driving Distance (which should prove heavily advantageous around Steyn City).