Golf Tips: Best bets for the Alfred Dunhill Championship

• 9/110.00 Burmester backed to complete hat-trick

• 150/1151.00 Levy backed to get the job done

• 300/1301.00 Van Zyl could give backers early Xmas present

• 50/151.00 Sullivan backed to make a fast start

• 419/1420.00 is price worth taking on mercurial Spaniard

Alfred Dunhill Championship: Burmester backed at 9/1 for hat-trick

Steve Rawlings: "The course hasn't changed a lot visually but the change from kikuyu to Bermuda grass has sped the whole track up (especially the greens) and the transformation has brought the scoring down considerably. This is a much harder test now which is why Valderrama appears to correlate very nicely now...

"Bezuidenhout won here just weeks after winning at Valderrama and last year's renewal gave the link a boost too. The runner-up, Otaegui, had won at Valderrama two months earlier and two others highlighted the connection...

"After back-to-back victories at the Joburg Open and the South African Open, Dean Burmester understandably heads the market, and the only surprise is just how much he's drifted.

"Matched at a low of 6.4 when the market first opened, the 33-year-old has drifted to a high of 10.5.

"Burmester had a poor record at Leopard Creek until last year when he finished seventh, so that would go someway to explaining the drift, and it's never easy to win two events in-a-row, let alone three. But he's in the form of his life and 9/1 is too big to ignore...

"Obviously, there's a chance that he blows up this week after such a brilliant fortnight, but Burmester must be on cloud nine right now and he might be able to push through and ride the momentum."

Alfred Dunhill Championship Each-Way Tips: 150/1 Levy can break the dam

Matt Cooper: "Alexander Levy had injury problems in 2022 and, after a brief bright start in 2023, he lost his card. But he opened last week's Australian Open with a 66 and closed it with a 67 to grab eighth.

"He's a five-time winner on the DP World Tour and four of those wins have come straight after he's reacquainted himself with getting in contention.

"There are some golfers for whom just one flash of the old form would be something of a concern, but Levy is a mercurial sort and the three-figure price is the clincher (in fact, that big quote also clinches top sport for the week).

"It's also true that a bit of jetlag might be a worry, especially flying east to west, but golfers never cease to confound such notions and the column got a winner when ignoring that exact threat to Lucas Herbert in Japan in April."

Alfred Dunhill Championship First-Round Leader Tips: Selections from 50/1 to 80/1

Dave Tindall: "Andy Sullivan did us a big favour at 66s in this market last week, shooting an opening 5-under 67 to finish round one in third spot. That was the second straight event he'd ended the opening lap inside the top three and another 67 on day one in Qatar last month placed him seventh.

"In short, Sullivan is a proven faster, last Thursday the latest reminder from a player who was first and second twice on the first-round leaderboard in the space of five events back in the spring.

"It may be a while ago but Sullivan has also shown a liking for Leopard Creek. There were no fast starts during that run of three straight appearances here from 2012-2014 but he finished third on debut and 14th a year later."

Find Me a 100 Winner: Five chanced at Leopard Creek at up to 419/1

Steve Rawlings: "Spaniards have a fine record at Leopard Creek so last but not least, I've backed Angel Hidalgo, who finished fourth behind Otaegui and Lagergren at Valderrama last year.

"We haven't seen the 25-year-old since he finished 63^rd in Qatar in October so it's interesting to see him in the field this week. If the break's done him some good, he might just contend.

"He's a mercurial character but his fourth at Valderrama and his top-eight finish in the Dubai Desert Classic early this year, along with his top-10 finish in India, show he can turn up at a tough track and perform so I was happy to take a small chance.!

Place order to lay 8u @ 10.0 & 12u @ 2.0

Alfred Dunhill Championship: Course and current form stats

Andy Swales: "The gently undulating parkland layout [of the course] incorporates many of the characteristics of the local area. All of which means there is no shortage of trees, bushes or dense vegetation...

"Among a host of golfers in decent current form are South Africans: Dean Burmester 11/2, Thriston Lawrence 16/1, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 14/1 and Louis De Jager 33/1...

"One player a lot further down the food chain is Jaco Van Zyl 300/1 who seems a little over-priced. The 44-year-old is enjoying a consistent run of results, is a 15-time winner on the Sunshine Tour, and has a best finish of third at Leopard Creek. He could be a daring E/W option ahead of Christmas, in this fairly mediocre field."

Read Steve Rawlings' in-play blog across the weekend for the latest updates from this week's tournament