BMW SA Open Preview

After more than a month off, the European Tour is set to resume its schedule this week with its first event of the 2017 calendar year in the BMW SA Open. The BMW SA Open is the second-oldest national open in the world behind only the Open Championship as it dates all the way back to 1893. While it was once one of the more prestigious tournaments in the world, the BMW SA Open has been on the decline in recent years and that will continue in 2017 with several key notables missing from this year’s field.

Event

Event Details: BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni

Category: European

Date: January 12-15

Location: Glendower Golf Club, Ekurhuleni, South Africa

South Africa’s most recent major champions Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen headline the list of notable golfers that will not take part in this year’s event and it won’t help that Branden Grace will not be in attendance either. The one bright side is that world number two Rory McIlroy has kept his promise that he will appear at this year’s event where he will headline and be the obvious tournament favorite.

Past Five Winners

2016: Brandon Stone -14

2015: Andy Sullivan -11 (Playoff)

2014: Morten Orum Madsen -19

2013: Henrik Stenson -17

2012: Hennie Otto -14

What To Know About The Course

The conditions have varied over the years but the most important statistics appear to be Driving Distance and Greens in Regulaton. Each of the last three winners at this tournament ranked in the top-10 in both of those categories so they should remain the key stats to consider when evaluating the talent for this year’s BMW SA Open. The Glendower Golf Club is a classic tree-lined parkland court and accuracy could be another important factor based on the number of bunkers dotting the course.

The Field

The home contingency has thrived at the BMW SA Open in the past but the lack of well-known homegrown players in this year’s field could change that. From 2002 through 2011, ten of the 11 winners were experienced South Africans but the last four editions have been very different with Europeans winning three of those BMW SA Opens events. McIlroy will look to continue that trend as the betting favorite at +200 odds with Andy Sullivan, Brandon Stone, Thomas Aiken and Richard Bland rounding out the top-five picks on the board for this year’s event.

A Good Matchup To Bet: Brandon Stone over Andy Sullivan

Sullivan won this event in 2015 but he suffered a significant drop off here a year ago when he missed the cut entirely. Sullivan will likely bounce back with a better effort this year but even still we don’t expect him to outduel last year’s winner Stone. Stone appears to be on the verge of becoming South Africa’s next dominant golfer and we like him to deliver another dominant performance as the home favorite this week.

Top-Five Pick: David Horsey

While Rory would be an obvious top-five pick there isn’t much value betting on a golfer that is already listed at +200 to win this event outright. Therefore, it makes sense to look elsewhere for a legitimate option and Horsey appears to be among them. Horsey finished 2016 on a high note and he already has four European Tour wins under his belt. Horsey has spent the past couple of weeks preparing for this event and considering his value as a +4000 option to win outright we like him as a strong value play to finish in the top-five at the BMW SA Open this week.

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