The SDC Open takes place this week at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa, with 156 players set to tee it up in the first event of the 2025 Road to Mallorca. Here are three players to keep an eye on…
Form horse – Clément Sordet
Clément Sordet returns to the HotelPlanner Tour this week for the first time since 2022 but does so having ended 2024 in promising form. The Frenchman missed out on retaining his full DP World Tour playing privileges last term, however recorded his best result of the calendar year with a tied 13th finish in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in December. He also knows Zebula well having triumphed in this event on his way to promotion three years ago, one of five titles he’s won on the HotelPlanner Tour since making his debut back in 2013.
Local boy – Wilco Nienaber
Wilco Nienaber found himself in contention going into the final day at Zebula 12 months ago before he eventually finished in a tie for seventh. In fact, the South African shared the 54-hole lead after carding rounds of 64-69-64 over the opening three days and will be hoping to build towards another charge at the title. The 24-year-old ended 2024 with a top 20 finish on the DP World Tour after impressing at Final Stage Qualifying School, so should fare well on a course that he’s familiar with.
The outsider – Ilirian Zalli
Ilirian Zalli will make history this week by becoming the first Albanian to tee it up on the HotelPlanner Tour when he gets his first round under way on Thursday. The 22-year-old earned playing privileges for the 2025 Road to Mallorca after coming through First and Second Stage Qualifying School before making the four-round cut at Final Stage in November. Zalli has an incredible back-story, one that you can read more about here, and arrives in South Africa having impressed for several years on the Vancouver Tour in Canada – a place where the likes of PGA TOUR winners Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor honed their craft.
