Nedbank Golf Challenge First-Round Leader Tips: Picks from 35/1 to 90/1

• 90/191.00 Ryan Van Velzen has to be respected on home soil

• 55/156.00 Daniel Hillier mixes form, length and fast starts

• 35/136.00 Jesper Svensson's big hitting will serve him well here

Weather forecast for Thursday

As you might expect for a place called Sun City it's going to be very hot.

Temperatures rise to three figures while the wind starts to pick up too from mid-morning onwards, blowing at 18-20mph in the afternoon.

Just 66 players go to post and they're in three-balls so it's hard to see any great advantage with tee-times bunched from 09.21 to 11.11 (1st and 10th).

Ryan Van Velzen @ 90/191.00

Ryan Van Velzen won the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit in 2023/24 so is clearly a player of some talent despite not quite hitting those heights so far in the current 2024/25 season.

The South African did though manage a fourth and fifth in two of his latest three starts (August and September) although he suffered a dip when missing cuts in Scotland, Macau and Thailand (twice) when setting off on his travels.

But a 24th in the Aussie PGA after nearly a month off may have reset him and now he'll try his luck again on a course where he finished runner-up (R2 64) in a Sunshine Tour event last October.

He also finished second on another Gary Player layout, Blair Atholl, when runner-up in last year's South African Open so can handle these long, parkland layouts.

A first-round leader at the Ubunye Championship on his last start in South Africa, the 22-year-old should enjoy his 10.27 tee-time alongside European notables Matteo Manassero and Niklas Norgaard.

Have a bet at 90/191.00.

Daniel Hillier @ 55/156.00

Daniel Hillier has been ticking over nicely with three top 25s in his last five world widestarts - those finishes coming in Scotland, South Korea and Australia.

The New Zealander travels well and has a fair bit of experience in South Africa having played six events there in 2022, finishing third in the Dimension Data Pro-Am, eighth in the Cape Town Open and 12th at the Mangaung Open.

Hillier was 33rd in this event last year, shooting a 68 in round two to sit 19th at halfway.

He's been third (Alfred Dunhill Links) and eighth (Genesis Championship) after 18 holes in recent events and his 9th place in Driving Distance (27th last year) shows he has the length to thrive here and hopefully make a fast start.

The 2023 Betfred British Masters winner hits off at 10.16 from the 10th.

Jesper Svensson @ 35/136.00

Jesper Svensson finished 10th on the 2024 Race to Dubai and has to be one to watch this season.

This could be a good place to catch him as his huge hitting (7th for Driving Distance in the campaign just gone) will be of real benefit too.

The Swede, who was 12th for Par 5 Scoring in 2024, finished runner-up in last year's South African Open at lengthy Blair Atholl and was seventh last time out at the DP World Tour Championship so brings location and current form.

As for quick starts, he was the first-round leader at the Open de France four tournaments ago and in two of his last four events in South Africa he's finished sixth (SA Open) and third (Joburg Open) respectively after 18 holes.

There's lots to like about the 28-year-old, who has a 10.16 tee-time at the 1st.

Now read Steve Rawlings on the Nedbank Golf Challenge