Nedbank Golf Challenge Each-Way Tips: 22/1 Hojgaard can follow up 80/1 winner & 250/1 place

• Dane Nicolai Hojgaard will want to end 2024 on a high

• Dan Bradbury can build on last year's promising debut

• Frenchman David Ravetto has form on Gary Player designs

After a fortnight in Australia, the DP World Tour crosses the southern Indian Ocean for the closing stretch of 2024 with a fortnight in South Africa followed by a week in Mauritius before Christmas.

The first week marks a new spot in the schedule for the Nedbank Golf Challenge, an event closely aligned with Gary Player, who designed the host course and who sits behind the 18th green during the final round. It's perhaps no surprise, therefore, that the event is self-proclaimed as Africa's major.

The tournament has always favoured small fields but the very small - and almost exclusively elite - fields of the past have, in recent times, become much less stellar.

That cannot entirely be said of this week, however, because while it's not at the level of renewals of the past it is a much better field than many onlookers must have been expecting.

The 2023 champion Max Homa returns to defend his title alongside a pair of Canadian (Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes), home hopes Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Thriston Lawrence, the still-recuperating Will Zalatoris and a host of recent DP World Tour winners.

Last week's Australian Open was an unusual one. Many punters correctly suspected that it was going to be a tough week to unearth the winner but the majority based this theory on the strength of the favourites rather than the chances of the American rookie Ryggs Johnston (who did lift the trophy).

The column put faith in another outsider - and 250/1 headline pick - Harrison Crowe who didn't just hit the woodwork, the ball bounced across the goal and hit the other post before being hoofed clear.

How so? Well, he did land a share of fifth but, alas for us, he made bogey at 17 and 18 in the final round so we didn't get the full payout. Fingers crossed for something a little less frustrating this week.

Main Bet: Nicolai Hojgaard 1pt each-way @ 22/1

A couple of columns ago the subject of a Danish prince and his questions arose ("To be or not to be") and a different form of it is called for ahead of making the main selection.

Thorbjorn Olesen was tempting. He's not been outside the top 25 in his last five starts, including second in France and third in Abu Dhabi. He was also third in this event last year and sixth at the Player-designed DLF last February.

His price, however, looks about right if not on the short side while his compatriot - and fellow Danish prince - Nicolai Hojgaard is more backable at 22/123.00.

He was second in this event 12 months ago and the lack of a recent top five finish has pushed him the right side of 20s.

His last four starts have been far from poor, however. He was T18th at le Golf National, T20th at Sotogrande, ninth at Jack Nicklaus Korea and T13th at Yas Links.

In that run his Strokes Gained driving stats were excellent in Spain and last time out, while his Approach work has headed in the right direction, peaking with fourth in Abu Dhabi.

Next Best: Dan Bradbury 1pt each-way @ 60/1

There was another dilemma for the second pick and this one came down to the Swede Jesper Svensson or England's Dan Bradbury.

The former, a first-time winner this year, was second on another South African Player design, Blair Atholl, this time last year and his game could easily be a very fine fit with the test. He was also seventh last time out in Dubai.

But Bradbury is a bigger price and probably has more in his favour.

First up, his win in the Open de France was a second at this level.

The first victory came in South Africa at Houghton and he was third there on defence last year shortly after finishing fifth in this event (when he was the first round leader and one shot back at halfway).

His best golf is good enough from the tee and into the greens for this tough test, it was in good fettle in the autumn, and, although he struggled in the DP World Tour Championship, he can rebound this week in a favoured part of the world.

Final Bet: David Ravetto 1pt each-way @ 200/1

There was more of a long than short list this week and Matteo Manassero, a winner in South Africa this year, was on it. But although he's had some decent finishes on Player tracks he's fared less well on this one and length might be an issue.

Instead, we'll roll the dice with Frenchman David Ravetto.

He played this course - briefly, he missed the cut - in the 2020 South African Open but he's played other Player designs very well since.

He was second at halfway when ninth in the Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek two years ago, he was T30th on debut at Blair Atholl and T17th there last year (when top six most of the week and two strokes back with 18 holes to play), and he won the Sunshine Tour's Dimension Data Pro-Am this spring, an event that utilises the Player-created Montagu course at Fancourt.

He's unquestionably boom or bust but he was a DP World Tour winner in the summer (at minor altitude so more evidence that he can play in the thin air he'll experience again this week) and last time out he signed off the DP World Tour Championship with a 67. There's enough there to go chasing a top six at a big price.

Now read Steve Rawlings on the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

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