Schwartzel hoping for home comforts

South African young gun Charl Schwartzel has set his sights firmly on claiming the inaugural Joburg Open title to begin his year on a positive note.

Schwartzel is the highest-ranked player in the field in Johannesburg and has had a good run in the other two co-sanctioned events on the European Tour in his home country.

He finished second in the Alfred Dunhill Championship and 10th in the SAA Open last year, so could also snatch the Sunshine Tour’s Order of merit with victory.

Schwartzel, who is vying with Darren Fichardt for that title, says he likes what he has seen of the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Course.

“It’s absolutely amazing, I really love the look of the course,” he said. “It’s a true championship course and compares to the best in the world. This tournament will favour the big hitters, and those with a hot putter. I am happy with my long game, and over the past few tournaments my putting has let me down a bit.

“However at the moment I am quite comfortable with it and hope my putter is hot this weekend.”

Victory brings automatic entry into the Open Championship and US Masters, as well as the Nedbank Challenge, HSBC tournament in Shanghai and Memorial Open on the PGA Tour.

The 22-year old, who rose to prominence two years ago with a stunning win in the Dunhill Championship, was born in Johannesburg and knows the course very well.

Schwartzel is the favourite, and his duel with Fichardt is likely to be intriguing.

Also hoping for a decent run at the title are Sweden’s Patrik Sjoland and Dutchman Maarten Lafeber, while a host of entries from the Challenger tours are also set to charge up the leaderboard.

Also in the field is veteran David Frost, who won the SA Open the last time it was played at Royal Johannesburg in 1986.