JOHANNESBURG – Here is the lowdown on the top three contenders of the South African challenge at the Open Championship, which starts on Thursday at Royal Birkdale.
Louis Oosthuizen
At 54 in the world rankings, he was a 200/1 long shot in 2010… but won by seven strokes at St Andrews. Two years ago he was joint runner-up, also at St Andrews, when Zach Johnson won a three-man playoff.
He’s also been a runner-up at the Masters (2012) and US Open (2014), and is South Africa’s best chance of producing another Major winner. He’s been in decent form in 2017, so expect the 34-year-old to put up a good show.
Charl Schwartzel
The 32-year-old chipped in for a birdie at the first, pitched in for eagle on the third and birdied the last four holes to win the 2011 Masters title. An 11-time European Tour winner, Schwartzel has also won on the PGA Tour (the 2016 Valspar Championship), but his best finish at the Open came in 2014 at Royal Liverpool when he finished tied-seventh.
Last year he tied for 18th… but could 2017 be the year Schwartzel tames the links?
Branden Grace
It’s time the 29-year-old went all the way at a Major. He’s come close at the US Open and the PGA Championship, posting top-five finishes in the last two years, but the big win has yet to come.
He’s a seven-time European Tour winner, and also won the 2016 RBC Heritage title on the PGA Tour.
So he’s got the game, but his form hasn’t been good in 2017. His best Open finish was tied 20th at St Andrews in 2015.
* The rest of the South Africans teeing it up on Thursday are two-time Open champion Ernie Els, Brandon Stone, Darren Fichardt, Dylan Frittelli, Jbe Kruger and Shaun Norris.
Tee Times (SA time, Great Britain and Northern Ireland unless stated)
AM
7.35 Chris Wood, Mark O’Meara (US), Ryan Moore (US)
7.46 Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha), Maverick McNealy (US), Stuart Manley
7.57 Stewart Cink (US), Sandy Lyle, Jeunghun Wang (Kor)
8.08 Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Paul Broadhurst, Roberto Castro (US)
8.19 Tom Lehman (US), Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Darren Fichardt (SA)
8.30 Billy Horschel (US), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Danny Willett
8.41 Steve Stricker (US), Matthew Fitzpatrick, Emiliano Grillo (Arg)
8.52 Jason Dufner (US), Branden Grace (SA), Bryson DeChambeau (US)
9.03 Russell Knox, Alex Noren (Swe), Ian Poulter
9.14 David Duval (US), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), KT Kim (Kor)
9.25 Young-Han Song (Kor), David Horsey, Dylan Frittelli (SA)
9.36 Mike Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Charles Howell III (US), Shiv Kapur (Ind)
9.47 Russell Henley (US), Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Peter Uihlein (US)
10.03 Brendan Steele (US), Alexander Levy (Fra), Webb Simpson (US)
10.14 Wesley Bryan (US), Anirban Lahiri (Ind), Alfie Plant
10.25 Darren Clarke, Gary Woodland (US), Harry Ellis
10.36 Pat Perez (US), Padraig Harrington (Ire), Thomas Pieters (Bel)
10.47 Henrik Stenson (Swe), Si Woo Kim (Kor), Jordan Spieth (US)
10.58 Justin Rose, Louis Oosthuizen (SA), Justin Thomas (US)
11.09 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Brooks Koepka (US), Tommy Fleetwood
11.20 JB Holmes (US), Brandt Snedeker (US), Shane Lowry (Ire)
11.31 Shaun Norris (SA), Richard Bland, Luca Cianchetti (Ita)
11.42 Yi-Keun Chang (Kor), Chan Kim (US), Mark Foster
11.53 Sung-hoon Kang (Kor), Tony Finau (US), Matthieu Pavon (Fra)
12.04 Alexander Bjork (Swe), Joseph Dean, Robert Streb (US)
12.15 Julian Suri (US), Robert Dinwiddie, Adam Hodkinson
12.36 Adam Hadwin (Can), Andrew Johnston, Todd Hamilton (US)
12.47 John Daly (US), Adam Bland (Aus), Connor Syme
12.58 William McGirt (US), Toby Tree, Jamie Lovemark (US)
PM
1.09 Austin Connelly (Can), Matthew Griffin (Aus), Matthew Southgate
1.20 Cameron Smith (Aus), Bill Haas (US), Callum Shinkwin
1.31 Brian Harman (US), Michael Hendry (Nzl), Martin Laird
1.42 Ross Fisher, Ernie Els (SA), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut)
1.53 Tyrrell Hatton, Martin Kaymer (Ger), Aaron Baddeley (Aus)
2.04 Jason Day (Aus), Zach Johnson (US), Sergio Garcia (Spa)
2.15 Andy Sullivan, Joost Luiten (Ned), David Lipsky (US)
2.26 Rickie Fowler (US), Adam Scott (Aus), Paul Casey
2.37 Matt Kuchar (US), Richie Ramsay, Ryan Fox (Nzl)
2.48 Charley Hoffman (US), Kevin Kisner (US), David Drysdale
3.04 Hideto Tanihara (Jpn), Jimmy Walker (US), Thorbjorn Olesen (Den)
3.15 Jhonattan Vegas (Ven), Brandon Stone (SA), Sean O’Hair (US)
3.26 Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Daniel Berger (US), Yuta Ikeda (Jpn)
3.37 Paul Lawrie, Kevin Chappell (US), Yusaku Miyazato (Jpn)
3.48 Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson (US), Charl Schwartzel (SA)
3.59 Jon Rahm (Spa), Patrick Reed (US), Lee Westwood
4.10 Phil Mickelson (US), Francesco Molinari (Ita), Marc Leishman (Aus)
4.21 Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa), Scott Hend (Aus), Bubba Watson (US)
4.32 Paul Waring, Kyle Stanley (US), Kevin Na (US)
4.43 Xander Schauffele (US), Gi-Whan Kim (Kor), Andrew Dodt (Aus)
4.54 Haotong Li (Chn), Kent Bulle (US), Haydn McCullen
5.05 Jbe Kruger (SA), Nick McCarthy, Ashley Hall (Aus)
5.16 Ryan McCarthy (Aus), Laurie Canter, Sebastian Munoz (Col)