Absence of stars opens doors at SA Open
BY Bruce Young | European PGA Tour | 2009 South African Airways Open | Preview | 16 Dec 2009
The final event of 2010, the South African Open, will be played this week at the Pearl Valley Golf Estates in Paarl in the Western Cape in South Africa where Richard Sterne will defend the title he won in a playoff against his fellow countryman Gareth Maybin last year.
The tournament is being played at this venue for the third consecutive year, this year with the unencumbered tournament title of the South African Open rather than the hybrid titles that have been part of the event in recent years.
It would seem that without the level of sponsorship which results in those confusing titles, the event is now unable to afford South Africa’s best. The biggest disappointment of the week is the absence of South Africa’s leading world ranked golfers Ernie Els, who played his last official event of 2009 in last week’s Alfred Dunhill, Retief Goosen, Tim Clark and Rory Sabbatini.
Sterne however is primed for a successful defence having finished 4th at last week’s Alfred Dunhill, finally finding form after somewhat of a struggle for much of 2009.
Charl Schwartzel has played very well in recent weeks and is likely to be Sterne’s stiffest competition. Like Sterne, Schwartzel has a great record in his homeland and it would be no surprise to see him win his first event of 2009 in the very last event of the year.
Another who has a good record in South Africa is the current leader of the Sunshine Tour’s Order of Merit Anders Hansen. The Dane won the Joburg Open earlier in the year then added a very good third place finish last week at the Alfred Dunhill. Being the leading world ranked player in the field gives him further credentials.
Soren Hansen has put together several outstanding finishes in 2009 without winning. He has played well in majors this year and on that basis alone he is a great a chance to win this week. He has not played since the Dubai tournament a month ago but after Anders Hansen is the second highest world ranked player in the field.
If current form is any guide then Edoardo Molinari might be on the verge of his fist European Tour win. Molinari won the Dunlop Phoenix event in Japan recently and then he and brother, Francesco, won the World Cup for Italy. He finished 15th last week and seems destined for much bigger victories than the South African Open.
It would be no surprise to see Molinari cap off a stunning season with a win and if he was to do so then he would likely move inside the World top 50 and therefore return to Augusta National where he once played as the US Amateur Champion.
The only Australian in the field is Andrew Tampion who missed the cut last week at the Alfred Dunhill having secured his European Tour card once again with a good season on the Challenge Tour.
