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Low scores expected at easy venue
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Hot putter required at Steyn City
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Read my WGC Dell Technologies Match Play preview here
Tournament History
The first edition of the Jonsson Workwear Open was co-sanctioned between the Challenge Tour and the Sunshine Tour and staged 13 months ago at Durban Country Club.
JC Ritchie won the event by six over Belgium's Christopher Mivis with a 26-under-par total but the event that concerns us when considering this second renewal is the once-only staged Steyn City Championship, won by fellow South African, Shaun Norris, who amassed a 25-under-par total to beat Dean Burmester by a stroke at this week's venue - The Club at Steyn City.
Venue
The Club at Steyn City, Johannesburg, South Africa
Course Details
Par 72, 7,716 yards
Stroke Average at the Steyn City Championship - 70.01
Built on a former quarry, on land described as being barren to the point of being dead, like last week's venue, the Club at Steyn City is a Jack Nicklaus-design but unlike last week's links track, the Club at Steyn City is straightforward resort course.
Built with the recreational golfer very much in mind, construction started in 2009 on a disused granite quarry and the course opened in April 2015.
Water is in-play on seven holes, there are 75 bunkers on the layout, and the track is described as undulating with elevation changes. The greens and tees are Bentgrass and the generous fairways and rough are fescue/rye grass to ensure a green playing surface all year round.
Although long on paper, the course is at altitude so it plays much shorter than the yardage suggests and it's a very easy set-up.
The scoring was low here at the Steyn City Championship and we can expect much the same here.
As already stated, the winner, Shaun Norris, reached 25-under-par but he opened the event with rounds of 64 - 62 to reach -18 at halfway to tie Ernie Els' longstanding 36-hole DP World Tour scoring record that dated all the way back to the 2004 edition of the now defunct Heineken Classic.
TV Coverage
Very disappointingly, as was the case last week, this event won't be shown on Sky Sports
The 2022 Steyn City Championship Result
Here's the top-five and ties at last year's event at the venue, with traditional and Strokes Gained stats.
Shaun Norris -25 DA 40 DD 66 GIR 13 SC 9 PA 1
Dean Burmester -22 DA 61 DD 36 GIR 65 SC 23 PA 3
Oliver Bekker -19 DA 5 DD 50 GIR 13 SC 59 PA 28
Matti Schmid -19 DA 18 DD 4 GIR 41 SC 8 PA 14
James Hart Du Preez -18 DA 69 DD 25 GIR 44 SC 32 PA 2
JB Hansen -18 DA 35 DD 26 GIR 18 SC 25 PA 5
Tapio Pulkkanen -18 DA 45 DD 3 GIR 64 SC 4 PA 14
Stats Key
DA = Driving Accuracy
DD = Driving Distance
GIR = Greens In Regulation
SC = Scrambling
PA = Putting Average
Shaun Norris -25 Tee 57 App 4 ATG 31 T2G 13 P 1
Dean Burmester -22 Tee 1 App 29 ATG 2 T2G 1 P 34
Oliver Bekker -19 Tee 3 App 12 ATG 32 T2G 4 P 30
Matti Schmid -19 Tee 5 App 53 ATG 24 T2G 15 P 9
James Hart Du Preez -18 Tee 38 App 36 ATG 35 T2G 47 P 36
JB Hansen -18 Tee 4 App 61 ATG 67 T2G 45 P 3
Tapio Pulkkanen -18 Tee 12 App 64 ATG 1 T2G 11 P 22
Stats Key
Tee = Strokes Gained off the Tee
App = Strokes Gained on Approach
ATG = Strokes Gained Around the Green
T2G = Strokes Gained Tee to Green
P = Strokes Gained Putting
What Will it Take to Win the Jonsson Workwear Open?
Given we only have one event at the venue to peruse, we can't give the stats too much weight but for what it's worth, putting was the key to victory.
Norris ranked first for Strokes Gained Putting and four of the top five in the Putting Average rankings finished inside the top-five and ties.
At a course this easy, where there's nothing complicated about the layout, and low scores are the norm, it usually boils down to who holes the most putts over the four days and that was certainly the case at the Steyn City Championship last year.
Is There an Angle In?
South Africans have a very good record in their homeland whenever the DP World Tour visits and they dominated the Steyn City Championship here last year.
I'd always favour the home contingent over the Europeans but I wrote words to that effect last week before the inaugural edition of the SDC Championship (won by Matthew Baldwin) and they didn't have a look in.
The Europeans completely dominated the event and Jaco Ahlers was the only South African in the top-eight!
In-Play Tactics
Again, we have only one event here to look at but it's no surprise to that the winner was up with the pace all the way.
It's hard to make ground up when everyone's making birdies and having sat second, trailing by a stroke, after round one, Norris was never headed after leading by three at halfway, and five of the seven players to finish inside the top-five and ties sat inside the top-four and ties at halfway.
This isn't a tough track by any means and the hardest hole on the course averaged only 0.21 over-par at last year's Steyn City Championship but it is the last hole they'll encounter all week so if the leader needs a par four there on Sunday if his lead his narrow, especially if they're in search of their first win on the DP World Tour, it may be dangerous to assume they'll register a par for the win.
Market Leaders
This is a wide-open market with nobody trading at less than 20/1.
Jordan Smith and Adri Arnaus are vying for favouritism, and I suspect the Spaniard will go off shorter given his better credentials.
Smith romped to victory at the Portugal Masters back in October but his 2023 form figures read a very average MC-20-17-MC-23 and there wasn't much to suggest he'll find a great deal of improvement this week after his 23rd at the SDC Championship on Sunday.
The Englishman signed the tournament off with a five-under-par 67 to climb 30 places but his stats were only ordinary, and I much prefer the chances of Arnaus.
Selections
I'll have two more picks for the Find Me a 100 Winner column but I'm also happy to back Adri Arnaus and one of Matt Cooper's each-way fancies - Thriston Lawrence.
Arnaus finished second last week where once again, he putted very nicely.
If the stats are correct, he gained almost 12 strokes on the field with his flatstick, with a remarkable putting average of just 1.48.
Understandably, he ranked first for both Putting Average and for Strokes Gained Putting and this wide-open layout should suit him.
He has form in South Africa that now reads 9-3-MC-6-2-60-2 and he has a favourite's chance in such a weak event.
I recall hearing the commentators mentioning that Lawrence had been suffering with a shoulder or neck injury a few weeks ago, so his 14th placed finish last week was eye-catching. He was eighth here in the Steyn City Championship and I thought 36.035/1 was more than fair.
Selections:
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