Best bets
2pts each-way Thriston Lawrence @ 16/1
1.5pts each-way David Ravetto @ 60/1
0.5pt each-way Robin Williams @ 40/1
0.5pt each-way Brandon Stone @ 100/1
0.5pt each-way Jordan Smith @ 25/1
Place FIVE pre-tournament bets and get an in-play matched FREE BET! T&Cs apply.
The only good break for punters last week turned out to be the non-televising of the SDC Championship because who would have backed or even be interested in unknown 400/1 winner Jordan Gumberg?
By not being live on Sky, the only DP World Tour event of the week would been swerved by many punters, certainly those who like to see their bets run. They will have saved their money and viewers generally spared a dreary week when all the favourites underperformed and the playoff was fought out by a 400/1 no-name and a 140/1 shot.
At least the runner-up was a Brit, albeit one born in South Africa. Sunshine Tour prospect Robin Williams represents Cambridgeshire club Peterborough Milton on the circuit, was a Sunshine Tour winner last May and third in the Dimension Data more recently and bids to improve on Sunday’s near miss in the Jonsson Workwear Open at Glendower, a tournament that will be on Sky this time in a line-up similar to the SDC.
The course has hosted eight SA Opens, the last one when steady Englishman Chris Paisley captured his one-and-only European Tour title in 2018. At 7542 yards, it’s a testing par 72 with 11 water hazards but the four par fives, all shortish by today’s standards, are there for the taking.
German rookie Nick Bachem was a surprise first winner of the Workwear last year but that was on a different course at Steyn City, so the prominent displays of Zander Lombard and Hennie Du Plessis who tied second, and Scot Ewen Ferguson (T4) don’t help us much to identify the winner this time.
With Ferguson, Connor Syme and young Tom McKibbin all out of the frame last week, Syme for the second time running from a winning position, it could pay to look elsewhere and Frenchman David Ravetto, third at the SDC, is taken to finish in front of that trio for a second week.
‘The locals are always hard to beat on home soil.’
He bagged his first Challenge Tour victory in the Dimension Data only three weeks ago saying he loved putting on South African greens yet was allowed to tee off at 80/1 last week. Even after that smart performance, he’s still available at 60/1 and that’s value.
But the locals are always hard to beat on home soil as they read the grain on the greens better so Ravetto may have to play second fiddle to Thriston Lawrence, tenth at the SDC and with form figures of 7-10-11 in three of the bigger SA tournaments at the end of last year.
More important, as a four-time DP World Tour, he knows how to get the job done (although he’s blown a couple too) and that can’t be said of every fancied runner.
One course winner taking part is the wildly inconsistent Brandon Stone, South African Open champion there eight years ago. That’s ancient history but it’s worth noting he was sixth behind Ravetto in a strong renewal of the Dimension Data and is just the sort to confound everybody at huge odds.
One more with course form is Englishman Jordan Smith who was third in 2017 SA Open. A double winner on tour, the man from Bath started the year brightly with a fourth to Tommy Fleetwood at the Dubai Invitational but has done nothing since. A good 12th in the Nedbank before Christmas, he has often been a factor in SA and could easily bounce back to his old self.
Recent winner Darius Van Driel and back-to-form Andy Sullivan also come into the argument in a week that could be marred by thunderstorms, although it should be a sunny Sunday.
Best bets
1.5pts each-way Brandon Wu @ 28/1
1pt each-way Robert MacIntyre @ 33/1
1pt each-way Daniel Berger @ 20/1
1pt each-way Nico Echevarria @ 33/1
1pt each-way Ryo Hisatsune @ 22/1
0.5pt each-way Chan Kim @ 28/1
Europe holds a strong hand in Puerto Rico where a $4m purse and a $720,000 first prize await a field for rank-and-filers not rated highly enough to contest the $20m bonanza in Orlando.
With top Dane Rasmus Hojgaard and England’s Arron Rai topping the Fitzdares market at 18/1 alongside Daniel Berger, a one-time Ryder Cupper now on the comeback trail after a long injury lay-off, this non-televised tournament could hardly be more open.
It has a history of turn-ups, the last two winners Nico Echevarria and Ryan Brehm starting at huge odds and past champions like Derek Lamely and Martin Trainer not even household names in their own household.
Colombian Echevarria’s last two starts, both top-25 finishes, gives the Colombian a good base for a bold title defence at Rio Grande and the memory of shooting 21-under on the Tom Kite-designed 7502-yard par 72 last year could inspire a repeat.
It would be wrong to say Bob MacIntyre has enjoyed a good start in the States but sixth place in the Mexico Open was a step in the right direction for the left-handed Scot who went unbeaten on his Ryder Cup debut in September but has struggled to live up to that since. At his best, he’s different gear to most of these and a chance is taken that a drop in levels will see him in a better light. Frenchman Victor Perez and South African Garrick Higgo played well enough last week to be of interest too.
Having recommended Berger for a far stronger tournament last week, it would be reckless to drop him now just because he missed the cut at demanding PGA National. Besides, on his last visit to Puerto Rico in 2019 he finished runner-up.
A decent 13th in Mexico two weeks back, Brandon Wu has sharp course form (third in 2022, seventh the previous year) and could figure again while Japanese duo Ryo Hisatsune and Taiga Semikawa are of definite interest, Ryo as French Open champion, Taiga as a former amateur world No. 1 with four victories on the Japan Tour to his name.
Two Korn Ferry Tour wins last year, eight victories on the Japan Tour and a Mexico Open top ten last month make Chan Kim an each-way shout while one rookie to watch is Parker Coody, one of two Texan twins touted to be going places.
For all your bets on the PGA Tour, visit our dedicated golf betting page.
