The Punter's De-brief: Putting revival sees Scheffler go in again

• Burmester doubles up in South Africa

• Playoff success for Niemann Down Under

• Read my Alfred Dunhill Championship preview here

With the hattrick seeking favourite, Viktor Hovland, struggling from the get-go, after a slow start, the world number one and pre-event 6.611/2 second favourite, Scottie Scheffler, looked the most likely winner of the Hero World Challenge form a very early stage in the Bahamas.

Scheffler played his first six holes around Albany in two-over-par on Thursday and he was matched for a few pounds at as high as 19.018/1 but he found his form after that and he ended the day tied for fourth after a three-under-par 69.

He was matched at odds-on as early as Friday before a bogey at the 18^th saw him go into the weekend tied for the lead with Jordan Spieth and trading at 2.6213/8 and he was a 1.364/11 chance on Sunday morning when leading by three over Matt Fitzpatrick with 18 to play.

Round four was nothing short of a cruise to victory for the world number one and the most notable thing to happen was Collin Morikawa getting penalised by two strokes just before round four after it came to light there'd be an infringement of the rules on the fourth hole on Saturday.

Statement on Collin Morikawa pic.twitter.com/A2lOtxBpI3

-- PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) December 3, 2023

Scheffler's new putter looked the business

We hadn't seen Scheffler since the Ryder Cup, where he'd performed poorly, but he's been working with putting guru, Phil Kenyon, and he's also changed his putter, and his new wand is considerably shorter than the old one.

He's gone form a 36" Scotty Cameron putter to one made by Olson, a relatively unknown bespoke manufacturer, that measures just 34.5, and he looks so much more comfortable on the greens than he did throughout the summer.

Scheffler didn't hole too many on Sunday and he missed a tiny birdie putt at the 17^th in round four but he ended the week ranked sixth for Strokes Gained: Putting so it's most definitely a step in the right direction.

If he can maintain the improvement, he's going to be a major force to be reckoned with next year and with six places up for grabs, there are worst ante-post bets to take into 2024 than the 9/110.00 available on the Sportsbook for him to win the US Masters again.

Burmester hit 370.0369/1 in running

Prior to Scheffler's impressive victory, Dean Burmester's in the South African Open was almost as facile.

The 9.181/10 favourite, who had won the Joburg Open the week before, was matched at as high as 370.0369/1 when he trailed by nine in a tie for 59^th at the halfway stage but a sensational seven-under-par 65 in round three saw him go into the fourth and final round trailing by just two and trading at 5.69/2.

With younger, less experienced pros in front of him, Burmester soon reeled the frontrunners in and he finished up winning by three over a trio of players that included one of my Find Me a 100 Winner picks, Renato Paratore.

The Italian was matched at the first lay back target of 10.09/1 but his double-bogey seven at the par five fifth, which was the third easiest hole on the course, was a major setback.

Burmester, who only made the cut on the number, revealed afterwards that he was ill on the course on Friday and that he nearly withdrew during round two so it was a remarkable win and who's to say he can't go in again this week at Leopard Creek?

The market is yet to form properly but the 34-year-old is certain to go off favourite for the third week-in-a-row and it's highly likely that he could walk off with the total for the third week running too.

Lee led the way but missed his chance

The Australian PGA Championship winner, Min woo Lee, was also attempting to win back-to-back tournaments and when he led by three at the halfway stage of the Australian Open he was trading at 1.784/5 to achieve the feat but it wasn't to be.

Matched at a low of just 1.68/13, Lee could never really get going over the weekend and we were left with a dramatic finale with plenty of twists and turns.

Lucas Herbert looked the most likely winner (matched at 2.3811/8) but his chance was ruined with a triple-bogey at the ninth in round four, and in-running backers very nearly got their fingers burnt with Chile's Joaquín Niemann, who was matched at as low as 1.031/33 on the back-nine before he bogeyed the 17^th.

Japan's Rikuya Hoshino was then matched at as low as 1.364/11 but when he failed to birdie the par five 18^th we were into extra time.

Both men birdied the hole at the first time of asking before Niemann, a pre-event 16/117.00 chance, played a brilliant approach at the second extra hole to win with an eagle three.

.@joaconiemann is your 2023 @ISPSHanda #AusOpenGolf Champion pic.twitter.com/eekATDma3g

-- Australian Open (@AusOpenGolf) December 3, 2023

We have just one event to concentrate on this week - the Alfred Dunhill Championship - which I've previewed here.

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