South African Open 2020: Form guide for this week's event in the city of Johannesburg

The European Tour is off to Johannesburg for the opening event of the new decade.

For a second season in a row, the South African Open is being staged at Randpark Golf Club which is situated in the north-west suburbs of the country's most populated city.

Once again, this super-sized event with 240 competitors will be contested over the club's two courses - Bushwillow and Firethorn.

On Thursday and Friday, the golfers will play one round at each course, before the longer and tougher Firethorn layout becomes the sole focus for rounds three and four.

At 7,500 yards Firethorn is almost 400 yards longer than Bushwillow.

Randpark Golf Club, which opened its doors in 1940, is a lush, parkland venue with Kikuyu grass fairways, and putting surfaces sown with hard-wearing ostrich grass.

Strong Home Challenge

As to be expected, the South Africans are out in force for their own national open.

Only one of South Africa's top 25 ranked players is absent, with Dylan Frittelli preferring to contest back-to-back tournaments in Hawaii as a member of the PGA Tour.

Defending champion Louis Oosthuizen is the only member of the world's top 40 taking part.

Oosthuizen, who collected 2½ points from four matches at last month's Presidents Cup in Australia, closed 2019 in decent shape, as did a number of his compatriots.

Check out latest betting ahead of this week's South African Open

Since mid-September, Shaun Norris has posted seven top-four finishes on the Japan Tour, including one victory, while Zander Lombard enjoyed back-to-back top-10s in co-sanctioned European Tour events on home soil.

Belgium's Rising Star

Eddie Pepperell is the highest-ranked European in the field, although Belgian Thomas Detry might offer a better deal this weekend.

The world No 119 enjoyed some solid performances during autumn, including a podium finish in the prestigious Nedbank Challenge at Sun City.

Experience of South Africa's unique playing conditions is always valuable, which could help Andy Sullivan kick-start the winning habit.

The Englishman has not tasted victory since 2015, but he is a two-time winner in South Africa where both of his successes came in the province of Gauteng - home of this week's tournament.

However, Sullivan is probably more of an each-way contender, than a potential victor this Sunday. He ended 2019 with a tie-for-10th at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Twitter: Andy Swales@GolfStatsAlive

MC* - Missed Additional 54-Hole Cut

Note: Last season's event was staged in December 2018.