South African Open Each-Way Tips: Wilco, over and out

Matt Cooper
30 November 2021
4:00 min read

Gary Player Country Club hosts for a second year running.

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It's no longer part of the 2022 DP World Tour, but Matt Cooper has two selections for this week's South African Open with the Betfair Sportsbook paying seven places...

"He returns to a track and tournament where last year he ranked sixth in that category when T11th."

Wilco Nienaber 1pt each-way @ 23.022/1

Main Bet: Wilco Nienaber 1pt each-way @ 22/1

Most organisations will have a team whose brief is to plot and plan for contingencies, but if anyone at the DP World Tour's Wentworth headquarters was able to prepare for the first two weeks of its new existence then that person is wasted in golf.

Because there are worst case scenarios ... and then there is last week at the Joburg Open. To repeat it all would be to toss salt and vinegar at the wounds before rubbing it down with glass paper.

Suffice to say, it's been more or less a nightmare for everyone involved.

And so this week's South African Open is no longer part of the glitzy new schedule, but is instead merely a regulation Sunshine Tour event.

The tournament has a long history that stretches back to the first edition in 1903 and, rather entertainingly, 11 of the first 14 winners were Scottish - then the first South African winner was called Jock.

It joined the European Tour in 1997 and this will be the first time it has not been co-sanctioned since then.

It will also be the second time it has been hosted at the Gary Player Country Club where Christiaan Bezuidenhout tasted victory 12 months ago.

The layout in Sun City was, as is hinted by the name, designed by the nation's premier golfer and it was the long-time host of the Nedbank Golf Challenge (once known as 'Africa's Major' but now no more).

In theory, the test can be stretched out to a whopping 7,981 yards, but altitude makes that length a little less of an issue than it would appear at first glance.

Bezuidenhout won with a total of 18-under 270 which left him fully fives blows clear of Jamie Donaldson and the 27-year-old leads a strong set of five home-based players at the head of the betting - Dean Burmester, Dylan Frittelli, Garrick Higgo and Shaun Norris complete the quintet.

They've all got top four finishes on the course and are winners around the world, but I'm going to stick with one of last week's selections as the main tip.

Wilco Nienaber posted a pair of 71s in last week's disrupted tournament, nothing too dramatic but he performed in solid fashion from tee to green (ranking 16th for Greens in Regulation) and now he returns to a track and tournament where last year he ranked sixth in that category when T11th.

He opened that week with a 69 for tied ninth before a Friday 74 derailed his challenge, but 68-72 at the weekend got him back into the top 20.

He's got two top 10s in his last five starts, once on the European Tour and another on the Challenge Tour.

I also like that his last 11 starts on the Sunshine Tour have reaped eight top 25 finishes with two second places and a win in the Dimension Data Pro-Am.

He's yet to win off home soil, but he's got bags of potential and is the right side of 20/1.

Next Best: Louis De Jager 1pt each-way @ 50/1

Final selection - of the year, not just this week - is 34-year-old Louis De Jager who has had something of a rum year.

A five-time winner on the Sunshine Tour, he was T14th in this event 12 months ago, one of nine top 30 finishes he made on the European Tour in late 2010 and early 2021.

louis de jager open de portugal.jpg

Late in that run he enjoyed time on the front page of leaderboards in the Canary Islands and at The Belfry, then he recovered from making a nine on the 11th hole of his second round at Open Qualifying to land a spot in the field at Royal St George's.

But that exceptional scoring came to nothing when he had a positive Covid test ahead of the big week in Kent.

Three weeks ago he bounced back to form in the South African PGA Championship, leading the tournament by two strokes at halfway before finishing solo third.

Now he returns to a course he's enjoyed in the past. In fact, he was T14th on debut in 2008 (when he was lying third after 18 holes), tied sixth in 2011, tied fifth in 2016 and second in 2018. He's also never finished outside the top 25 in his last five visits.

MATT'S 2021 P/L

Staked: 224pts
Returned: 267pts
P/L: +43pts

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