The 2022 Road to Mallorca heads to Bloemfontein for this week’s Mangaung Open. Here’s three men to keep your eye on this week…
Form horse
Christopher Mivis has started the 2020 Road to Mallorca season in red-hot form. The Belgian has recorded back-to-back runner up finishes at the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open and Jonsson Workwear Open and currently sits in third position on the Road to Mallorca Rankings. The 33-year-old entered the final round of the Jonsson Workwear Open ten-shots behind eventual winner JC Ritchie, however Mivis carded a six under par final round of 66 and at one stage reduced Ritchie’s advantage to just two.
Local boy
There is only one man who could claim the local boy tag this week and that is 21-year-old Wilco Nienaber. Nienaber grew up in Bloemfontein and being a club member at Bloemfontein Golf Club, he will know this venue better than anyone else in the field. The South African has tasted victory at Bloemfontein Golf Club, winning the 2018 Free State Open, carding 25 birdies in the process and the clubhouse is filled with records and photos of Nienaber’s amateur career.
The outsider
Allen John will be desperate to make an immediate impact as he makes his first appearance of the season at the Manguang Open. The German, who is profoundly deaf, secured the gold medal at the 2017 Deaflympics and finished second at the 2018 DP World Tour’s Porsche European Open ahead of Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed.
John recorded a fifth place finish at the Swiss Challenge on the 2021 Road to Mallorca and he will be looking to put in those kind of performances on a more consistent basis in 2022 as he looks to finish in the top 20 on the Road to Mallorca Ranking and earn DP World Tour playing rights. The 34-year-old has ambitions to become the first deaf golfer to win on the DP World Tour.
