JOHANNESBURG – Defending champion Chris Paisley from England will play alongside Louis Oosthuizen and Matt Wallace in the first two rounds of the SA Open, which tees off at Randpark Golf Club on Thursday.
The trio will go off on the first tee at 8.25am on the Bushwillow course in the first round on Thursday.
All the players will play a round each on the Bushwillow and Firethorn layouts before the final two rounds are contested on the Firethorn course only.
Paisley edged out Branden Grace for the title at Glendower earlier this year, while England’s Wallace has won three times on the European Tour this season. Oosthuizen, at 36 in the world, is the highest ranked golfer in the 24-strong field this week.
Playing in front of Paisley, Oosthuizen and Wallace will be Sunshine Tour Order of Merit leader Justin Harding, Branden Grace and Dean Burmester (8.15am tee-time) and in front of them will be Ernie Els, George Coetzee and Justin Walters (7.40tee time).
Only 1 day to go!
The courses at @RandparkGolf are in pristine condition and ready to host the historic @SAOpen_Golf hosted by @CityofJoburgZA. #SAOpen #SunshineTour #ItBeginsHere pic.twitter.com/hTmGiiiFVe
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) December 5, 2018
Last week’s winner in Mauritius, Kurt Kitayama of the USA, will be off at 11.35am on the Firethorn course, alongside Erik van Rooyen and Brandon Stone, the winner in 2016.
Teeing off at 11.45am will be the trio of Dylan Frittelli, Pablo Larazzabal and Richard Sterne.
Former Joburg Open winner Hayden Porteous, former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger will tee off at 11.55am on Firethorn.