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JOHANNESBURG –  England’s Dan Bradbury claimed a wire-to-wire victory in the Joburg Open for his first DP World Tour title in only his third start at Houghton Golf Club on Sunday, and one of his first priorities was to find somewhere to get his laundry done. A one-week trip to South Africa had suddenly become the start of a new career.

Playing on a sponsor’s invitation into the Joburg Open and with no status on any tour anywhere in the world, Bradbury took his chance from day one and never looked back as he closed out his maiden professional title with a final round of 67 to win by three strokes on 21 under par.

“I was meant to be on a flight out this evening but happily that’s changed. I didn’t even pack enough clothes for more than one week. I’ve got the kids here asking for my cap but I only packed one for each day,” said a delighted Bradbury, who now moves on to this week’s Investec South African Open.

Finland’s Sami Välimäki took second place on 18 under par with a final round of 69, and South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Daniel van Tonder shared third place on 17 under par following respective rounds of 66 and 68.

Bradbury also secured himself a spot in his first Major as one of the three leading professionals who qualified from this event for next year’s 151^st Open at Royal Liverpool. Välimäki took the second spot, with Bezuidenhout taking the third by virtue of his higher world ranking over Van Tonder.

“I can’t tell you how it feels because it hasn’t sunk in yet. It means the world to me,” said Bradbury, who struggled to process just what this week has meant to him. “I wouldn’t have anywhere to play in the world without this. It’s been life changing. I’m going to play everything. I love playing.”

It was a composed performance all week from the Englishman who overcame weather delays and some strong charges on his lead to eventually triumph. Even on the final day he showed tremendous composure as he saved what could have been a swing in the lead when he chipped in for par on the par-four sixth hole.

“That was a big momentum changer. If I hadn’t made that I might have been tied for the lead, or even behind. To come out of that hole still leading was a bonus.”

It was also a bonus having his mother Sandra with him this week to watch his maiden victory.

“I’m bursting with pride,” she said. “His dad is at home looking after his sister’s dogs. I asked my boss if I could have the week off work to come with him. It’s just phenomenal. All his family and friends have been supporting him. The golf club back home (Wakefield Golf Club) was full – nobody was playing golf today. They were all supporting Dan in the clubhouse. It’s lovely.”

JOHANNESBURG –  England’s Dan Bradbury stayed on course for what could be a life-changing victory for him as he came through Saturday’s third round of the Joburg Open with a one-stroke lead at Houghton Golf Club.

Bradbury withstood a strong charge from 19-year-old South African Casey Jarvis and Finland’s Sami Välimäki and signed for a 67 to retain the lead on 17 under par.

After sharing and briefly holding the lead, Välimäki suffered a double bogey at the last and is Bradbury’s nearest challenger on 16 under par following a 66. Jarvis, who started with two birdies and an eagle, couldn’t maintain his charge and signed for a level-par 71 to drop into a share of fourth on 12 under par with Christiaan Bezuidenhout. South Africa’s Daniel van Tonder is currently third on 14 under par after his 67 on Saturday.

Bradbury was given a sponsor’s invitation into this Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour co-sanctioned event. He currently has no status on any tour anywhere in the world, and his plan after this was to play the mini tours. But a win on Sunday would secure him DP World Tour membership and a place in next year’s Open.

“I’m having a lot of fun. I’m really happy with my situation at the moment. It’s nice when you’re hitting good golf shots and enjoying it, and you’ve got nice people around you. Everything’s just good at the moment,” he said at the end of a day where he had to keep his composure as those around him made early charges.

“When Casey was four under through three I thought here we go because I know he’s a great player and can go low. So can Sami. I just knew if I played my own game and just kept playing solid golf I’d be somewhere near where I needed to be a the end of the day, and it worked out like that,” he said.

“I’ve never really been here before but I’ve won college golf tournaments. I don’t feel out of place, which is the biggest thing. It’s just about keeping a positive mindset and believing you deserve to be here.”

Välimäki went straight from his double-bogey finish to the range to reset for a final round that also holds plenty of opportunity for him.

“I left too many shots out there, but I suppose it’s still a good position to be in going into the final day. It’s hard to be happy when you finish the round hitting terrible shots, but I’m still in the game. I made a lot of birdies and had pretty good chances. I just need to be better off the tee,” he said.

JOHANNESBURG –  Englishman Dan Bradbury kept his grip on the Joburg Open and remained at the top of the leaderboard in the suspended second round on Friday, but with young South African Casey Jarvis and Frenchman Romain Langasque just one shot back as darkness fell at Houghton Golf Club.

Bradbury followed up his 63 with a 66 to hold the clubhouse lead on 13 under par when play was suspended because of lightning at 14:36. They resumed at 17:25 before bad light forced the round to be carried over to Saturday morning.

But not before Jarvis had made a strong charge with seven birdies over the turn to lift him to 12 under overall with four holes of his second round still to complete. Langasque had also climbed to 12 under through 11 holes.

And the South African challenge was strengthened by Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Daniel van Tonder and Jbe Kruger all making it into the clubhouse on 10 under par before the suspension.

But Bradbury has looked extremely solid at the top of the leaderboard for two days now. “I had it going there on the front nine and thought it was going to be another 63 or even a 62, but I made a few mistakes on the back nine,” Bradbury said of a round where he was seven under through 14 holes and then made back-to-back bogeys.

“Overall I’m very happy. With both those bogeys I just missed it in the wrong place. If you do that on these greens you’re going to be in trouble.”

The experienced Bezuidenhout will be a definite threat on 10 under. “I did a solid job in the second round,” Bezuidenhout said after his 64. “I knew I needed to at least get to 10 under par to give myself a chance. I’ve played some pretty nice golf over the last two days. I made a putter change after my first round and it was nice to see some putts going in. Hopefully I can get off to a fast start in the third round. On this golf course you need to keep the ball in play. If you do that you have lots of chances for birdies. That will be my plan for the weekend.”

Van Tonder was also thrilled with his putting after a 63 which didn’t equal the course record because of placing following the storm that also caused a suspension of the first round.

“The greens are nice and quick and I managed to roll a few in. I’ve been playing well the last seven or eight months and haven’t been getting the scores. It’s been frustrating, so I’m glad to finally make putts and put a low score down. I’m being as aggressive as I can be on this golf course. I like these greens and I’ve been reading them well.”

Kruger had his ball striking to thank for him being in contention on a day when his putter wasn’t as hot as those around him.

“I’m 100% pleased with my golf, but not so much with my putting. My ball striking has been very good and I hit it close all day. But it felt like I didn’t make any putts. I’ve missed a whole bunch of putts inside 10 feet over the past two days. So to miss that many and still be 10 under means I must be hitting the ball well.”

JOHANNESBURG –  Englishman Dan Bradbury took full advantage of a sponsor’s invitation and led the suspended first round of the Joburg Open with an eight-under-par 63 at Houghton Golf Club on Thursday. But South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence managed to take some of the spotlight with an historic first for South African professional golf.

Bradbury, who was given the news last Friday that he had an invitation into this tournament, made it into the clubhouse with a round featuring two eagles before the second suspension of the day due to lightning. It earned him a one-stroke clubhouse lead over Germany’s Nick Bachem. The first round will resume at 6:45am on Friday, with the second round scheduled to start at 7:15am.

“It was pretty good to be fair. I can’t really complain. I had some momentum on my second nine and then the first thunderstorm stopped that. But I can’t really complain with a 63. It’s as good a start as I could’ve wished for,” said Bradbury.

Defending champion Lawrence grabbed his own share of the headlines when it was announced that he had won the DP World Tour’s Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award for his two victories – one of which was the Joburg Open last November –, six top-10s and a Major debut this past season. He is the first South African golfer to ever receive this award.

Lawrence celebrated that achievement with an opening five-under-par 66 to place him just three shots off the clubhouse lead.

“It’s a dream come true,” Lawrence said of his award. “If you look at the names on the trophy, it’s incredible. A year ago I didn’t even have a category, so when I started off with a victory, it came to mind straight away to go for this award. To have accomplished it is an incredible feeling – I’m very grateful and honoured.”

Bradbury was equally grateful to have received an invitation into this tournament, and to make his first trip to South Africa.

“I got the phonecall on Friday afternoon so this past weekend was just about getting out here and seeing what I could do. My mom (Sandra) is with me as well so it’s nice to have a bit of company. I’m loving it out here. I got nice and sunburnt yesterday – made that mistake.”

And he was also loving his first experience of golf at altitude.

“This is my first time playing at altitude. I’ve had a local caddie who’s been great helping me get used to it. The ball’s going miles here. Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. Both eagles (on the par-five third and fifth holes) were great drives and I had nine irons into both. If you can hit it straight off the tee on those it’s key because they’re not the longest holes. I also rolled in a lot of nice mid-range putts.”

The Joburg Open teed off at Houghton Golf Club on Thursday, with the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Mpho Phalatse, hitting the ceremonial tee shot to signal the start of this DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour co-sanctioned tournament at Houghton Golf Club.

“We’re very excited to welcome the global viewership of this tournament and to be able to showcase our beautiful City of Johannesburg,” said Phalatse.

“Golf is a much loved sport in Johannesburg. We have an array of beautiful golf courses in the City and the sport forms a vital part of our tourism. We are the economic hub of the country, and international events like this are part of our drive to grow the City and attract investment.”

The Joburg Open signals the start of the DP World Tour’s new season and also forms part of the Open Qualifying Series for The Open.

JOHANNESBURG – It was while Thriston Lawrence was warming up on a driving range in St Andrews for his first Major in The 150^th Open only a few metres away from Tiger Woods that he realised just how much his life had changed since winning the Joburg Open in November last year.

“Everything I could’ve dreamed of happened this year and that motivates me to achieve even more in my career,” said Lawrence.

The South African’s victory in last November’s Joburg Open was his first on the DP World Tour, and it led to another title in the 2022 Omega European Masters, his first Major appearance this year, and finishing as the top South African on the DP World Tour Rankings in 14^th place for the past season.

Driving into Houghton Golf Club this week, the tournament banner with Lawrence’s photo on it as defending champion was another reminder of just how big this week was for him.

“Driving into Houghton Golf Club and seeing the signage with my photo and the trophy, you dream about those things when you’re a young golfer. A year ago I never thought this would happen. This event is where my dreams came true. It’s obviously not all the dreams I want to achieve, but it’s the start. It motivates you because if you see that once you want to be there again. I want to defend my title as best as I can this week.”

The Joburg Open will once again provide incredible opportunity, with three places in The 151^st Open at Royal Liverpool available this week. The leading three players, not already exempt as of the closing date, who make the cut at the Joburg Open will earn places in The Open from 16-23 July 2023. In the event of a qualifier becoming exempt before the closing date (Thursday, 1 June 2023), a reserve list from each Open Qualifying Series (OQS) will be created, based on the final positions. In the event of a tie for a qualifying place, the player with the higher ranking in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) at the beginning of the week commencing 21 November will be awarded a place in The Open.

Lawrence can certainly attest to the value of this kind of opportunity.

“To play my first Major at St Andrews, the Home of Golf, was incredible. Whatever I could’ve imagined it would be, it was triple that when I experienced it. I had my family with me and it was just incredible.”

While much has changed in Lawrence’s life this past year, he is determined not to change the one thing that enabled him to reach these highs, and which he hopes to carry with him into this new season.

“The most important thing for me is just to keep on doing what I did last season. A lot of golfers tend to want to change things. You obviously need to process what went wrong last season and improve on that. But I feel if you keep it simple and keep to what worked, I think it can only go well. It’s a new week and new goals, and I’ll just keep on working hard and giving it my best.”

Tickets for the Joburg Open are available at https://sunshinetour.com/

The Sunshine Tour has strengthened its global partnership with the DP World Tour with the announcement of two new DP World Tour events and four Challenge Tour events on the schedule in 2023, with increased prize money and live coverage on SuperSport.

The two new DP World Tour events will begin with the $1.5 million SDC Championship to be played at St Francis Links in the Eastern Cape from 16-19 March. SDC has grown its commitment to the Sunshine Tour following its debut as a sponsor of a Challenge Tour co-sanctioned event in 2022 and will now be a title partner of events on both the DP World Tour and Challenge Tour schedules in South Africa in 2023.

This will be followed by the $1.5 million Jonsson Workwear Open, which will be played at Steyn City in Johannesburg from 23-26 March. Jonsson Workwear has also grown its commitment to the Sunshine Tour from a Challenge Tour event in 2022 to a major DP World Tour event in 2023. This also marks the second year that Steyn City will host a DP World Tour event.

Both these tournaments will take on even greater significance on the global stage as they offer Ryder Cup points to the European professionals competing in a Ryder Cup year. They join this week’s Joburg Open at Houghton Golf Club, the Investec South African Open Championship (December 1-4), the Alfred Dunhill Championship (December 8-11) and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open (December 15-18) to make it six co-sanctioned events between the Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour on the latter’s 2023 Race to Dubai presented by Rolex. 

“We are delighted to further strengthen our longstanding relationship with the Sunshine Tour by adding these two new co-sanctioned tournaments that significantly enhance what has always been a popular destination for our members. We have worked very hard with the Sunshine Tour to develop the global pathway that we now offer and we’re seeing the fruits of this with the exciting new talent emerging from the Sunshine Tour and earning a place on the DP World Tour,” said Keith Pelley, Chief Executive Officer of the DP World Tour.

The Sunshine Tour will also host its own R2 million tournament before the start of the two new DP World Tour events from 9-12 March purely for Sunshine Tour members, the details of which will be announced shortly.

The four Challenge Tour events that have been confirmed for 2023 all feature significant increases in prize money and each with a field of 156 professionals.

The Challenge Tour swing in South Africa will start with the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open from 2-5 February at Royal Cape Golf Club, where JC Ritchie won the last two editions of an event that helped him to gain his DP World Tour card for this season. The prize money for this tournament has been increased to $350 000.

The Challenge Tour will then travel to Fancourt for the popular Dimension Data Pro-Am from 9-12 February where the prize money has been significantly increased to R7 million – with an additional R300 000 for the pro-am component of the tournament. Since 1996 the Dimension Data Pro-Am has been one of the flagship events on the Sunshine Tour, and in the last three years alone it has helped shape the international careers of champions Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Wilco Nienaber.

It then moves inland for the second SDC Open from 16-19 February at Zebula Golf Estate and Spa, featuring prize money of $350 000. This will be followed by the new $350 000 Nelson Mandela Bay Championship at the links of Humewood Golf Club from 23-26 February, which brings international golf back to one of South Africa’s celebrated courses and a five-time host of the Investec South African Open Championship.

“These events provide our members with valuable playing opportunities at a time of the year when it is difficult to stage events in Europe and I am pleased that through our ever-evolving relationship with the Sunshine Tour we are able to begin our season in South Africa for the fourth year running,” said Jamie Hodges, Head of Challenge Tour.

“We have listened to feedback from our members and worked closely with Thomas Abt and his team to identify the correct events to co-sanction and we are therefore excited to start the 2023 Road to Mallorca season in Cape Town in February.”

Following the four -co-sanctioned events with the Challenge Tour, the current Sunshine Tour season will conclude with the Limpopo Championship from 30 March to 2 April at Euphoria Golf Estate with an increased prize fund of R2 million, the R2 million Stella Artois Players Championship from 13-16 April at Dainfern Golf Estate, and the R2 million Tour Championship at Serengeti Estates from 20-23 April.

Thomas Abt, Commissioner of the Sunshine Tour, said, “We are incredibly excited about what will be another very strong start to the New Year for the Sunshine Tour as we continue to develop and strengthen our relationships with the DP World Tour and Challenge Tour. These relationships play a key role in allowing us to give our members the best possible opportunity to take their careers to the next level as we bring more world-class international golf to our fairways.”

The DP World Tour and the Sunshine Tour last year announced a significant extension to their existing long-term partnership which has already spanned more than a quarter of a century.

JOHANNESBURG – A new host golf course brings with it a new challenge for this week’s Joburg Open field, and the leading professionals in this Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour co-sanctioned tournament are excited about what they’ve seen from Houghton Golf Club so far.

After a first look at the course in Tuesday’s pro-am, most of the field agreed that accuracy off the tee and a good short game will be key to success this week when the first round tees off on Thursday.

“The rough is not up this week so I think the scoring will be low, but the greens are pretty slopy so missing on the wrong side of the hole will result in sloppy bogeys. You also need to keep it in play off the tee. The fairways are narrow and tree lined so I feel if you can drive the ball well this week you’ll give yourself lots of chances,” said Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who is looking to add the Joburg Open to his already impressive list of victories in co-sanctioned tournaments on South African fairways.

“The Joburg Open has always been a tournament that I would like to win. I’ve come close a few times and it would be nice to tick this one off.”

Richard Sterne, a two-time winner of the Joburg Open in 2008 and 2013, agrees that the Houghton Golf Club greens will play a big role in deciding this week’s champion.

“There are a couple of tough par fours out here, and the greens are where they’ll tuck the flags and make it tricky. The course is in lovely condition and there isn’t much rough, so it will come down to what you do around the greens and being able to score with the putter.”

George Coetzee, the 2014 Joburg Open champion and a two-time winner on the Sunshine Tour this year, has his focus on a strong game off the tee.

“It’s my first experience of Houghton Golf Club. The golf course looks great and I think everybody will be pretty happy with it this week. You have to shape your shots off the tee pretty well. I’d say your seven iron to wedge game needs to be pretty good around here, and then obviously controlling it on the greens and making a few putts. It’s kind of the same story every week, but I feel this week in particular is going to place greater emphasis on shaping it off the tee and having good control around the greens.”

It was a feeling shared by Shaun Norris, who in March this year made his DP World Tour breakthrough with victory in the Steyn City Championship. “I’d love to add a second DP World Tour title this year. On this golf course, you’ll have to hit the ball well off the tee and then putt well,” he said.

Dylan Naidoo, who has a long history in the Joburg Open as first an invited amateur and now a professional, is equally excited about the new challenge Houghton Golf Club will pose.

“This tournament means a lot to me. I’ve been playing it since I was 16 years old and I’ve really wanted to play better than I have in the past, so I’m excited by a new golf course and a new test. I’m looking forward to it. It’s a great golf course. I played a lot here growing up. I think the scoring will depend on the weather. If it’s windy and cold and wet it’s not going to be that easy. If the sun shines and there isn’t a lot of wind the scoring will be low. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. But you just have to look at the task in front of you, play the shots, execute the plan, and then you look up and see where you are on the leaderboard.”

And Haydn Porteous is hoping a return to Johannesburg and a tournament he won in 2016 will spark something special in his own game.

“I’m enjoying being home. It’s been a couple of tough seasons for me and to be home and play on familiar ground is nice and hopefully I can get a bit of confidence from that. I haven’t been here for a while but I think it’s a great golf course. There are a lot of tough holes out there but also some holes where you can take advantage. It should be a good week and I think it will be an enjoyable one for all concerned.”

Tickets for the Joburg Open are available at https://sunshinetour.com/