Darren Fichardt hopes to continue his impressive form as he prepares to defend the Africa Open at East London Golf Club this week.
The South African, whose win 12 months ago was his fourth on The European Tour, has already notched up four top-20 finishes during the 2014 campaign.
However, that has come at a cost to the 38 year old, who is already making his tenth appearance of the season and is in action for a sixth successive week.
“It’s always nice to defend,” said Fichardt. “I like the Africa Open; it’s going to be a sixth week in a row the same as last year so similar sort of situation and the game is pretty good so we’ll see what happens.
“I’ve picked up a really good swing thought leading into the Final Series, but unfortunately I’m just running out of steam a little bit.
“That swing tip has really helped me a lot – it’s made me compress the ball a lot better. My long irons are much better and my putting is always good so well see what happens.”
Fichardt ran out a two shot winner last year, and hopes to draw on those memories this time around.
“When you’re out there all those good memories come back: shots that you hit and long putts that you made.
“I made a lot of very good clutch putts which carries a lot of momentum and the last shot – the four iron that I cut around the trees with the wind off the right was an unbelievable shot.
“It’s a real thinkers’ course; you don’t just hit driver off every tee and you’ve got to play your way around.
“If you’re on the green you want to be down grain - you don’t want to be into the grain or cross grain so it’s very strategic.”
Another player hoping to perform well is last year’s runner-up Gregory Bourdy.
And the Frenchman has a good record in South Africa, having won an event on the co-sanctioning Sunshine Tour back in 2006.
“Not many foreigners have won tournaments in South Africa, so I was proud to win the Telkom PGA Championship a few years ago,” said Bourdy. “It was important for me, because I was the first French player to win here.
“I think I can win again here, and why not the Africa Open? I have good memories of East London, because I finished second here last year.”
