The DP World Tour arrives for the first of two weeks in South Africa as the International Swing reaches the home strait at the Investec South African Open Championship. Here are your five things to know.
Five down, two to go
After five events across four countries, it is still all to play for in the final two events of the International Swing, starting this week at Durban Country Club. This year’s $1.5 million tournament will be followed by next week's Joburg Open, after which a champion will be crowned. With 500 points available to the winner both this week and next, technically anybody playing both events could still top the Rankings but Laurie Canter, who currently leads on 922.20 points, has his fate in his own hands. A win this week would lock things up providing Li Haotong or Jacques Kruyswijk do not finish second but there is still plenty of golf to be played. The winner of the International Swing will gain entry into all of the DP World Tour's Back 9 events and pocket a US$200,000 bonus, with an exemption into the Genesis Scottish Open also available via the Rankings.
Burmerster defends
Dean Burmester added his name to the illustrious list of winners of this event last season as he tasted victory for the second week in a row. The home favourite was nine shots off the lead after making the cut on the number while feeling unwell but a third-round 65 which matched the low round of the week got him within touching distance before a closing 68 in tricky conditions on the final day handed him a three-shot win. "Back-to-back! I've never done that before so that was special," he said having won the Joburg Open seven days earlier. "It's obviously one as a South African that I've always wanted to win. To be involved in this tournament and to win it, with a bank that used to sponsor me and got me off the ground when I was just a kid, is super special. So to be the SA Open champion is something I'll never forget. It's a tournament I watched growing up and I watched a lot of legends."
122 years of history
The South African Open was first played in 1903, becoming part of the DP World Tour schedule in 1997, and has since been won by some of the greatest names to play the game. Bobby Locke won the first of his nine titles as an amateur in 1935, with the great Gary Player the only person to have won it more times having lifted the trophy on 13 occasions. Vijay Singh won the event the first time it was part of the DP World Tour and in the following 28 years it has been won by fellow Major Champions Ernie Els, Trevor Immelman and Retief Goosen on miltiple occasions, with Louis Oosthuizen tasting victory in the 2019 season. South Africans have won the last six editions and seven of the last ten, with a strong contingent of home heroes looking to extend that run this week.
Open places on offer
As one of the oldest opens in golf, it seems fitting that this week's event is part of the Qualfying Series for The Open at Royal Portrush this summer. It was part of the Series the last time The Open Championship headed to Northern Ireland in 2019, with Romain Langasque, Oliver Wilson and Charl Schwartzel - who did not end up teeing it up in County Antrim due to injury - making it through. Two years later Jaco Ahlers, Marcus Armitage and Branden Grace qualified and once again there will be three places available to the top three players not already exempt who make the cut. The Qualifying Series will feature two more times on the DP World Tour this season with Open spots available at the Italian Open and Genesis Scottish Open. Canter, Ryggs Johnston, Romain Langasque, Jordan Smith and South African amateur Bryan Newman are already exempt for The Open from those in action this week.
All change at Durban Country Club
Established in 1922, Durban Country Club’s proud and storied history stretches back over 100 years. This week, it hosts South Africa's national open – co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour – for a record 19th time and first since 2010, when Els was crowned the champion. It last hosted an event on the DP World Tour schedule at the Volvo Golf Champions in 2014, but this time around players will face a revamped layout. In 2023-2024, the course closed for 10 months to construct renovations and drainage enhancements including the addition of a burn that serves as a drainage channel while adding strategy, safety and interest. Overlooking the Blue Lagoon estuary and the Indian Ocean, a high value is placed on approach play with each green - many of which are raised - holding a variety of pin positions that can affect strategy. The changes made include almost doubling the size of the green on the fourth, pulling the sixth green away from trees on the seventh, and increasing the length of the driveable 18th - one of four par fours measuring under 400 yards - by 50 yards. The par-72 course also features what is rated as one of the most highly ranked holes in the world in the par five third.
