Masters champion Charl Schwartzel is hoping to follow the example of close friend Louis Oosthuizen by successfully defending his Joburg Open title this week, as he seeks to seal a hat-trick of titles at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club.
Oosthuizen retained his Africa Open title at East London Golf Club last week to launch the 2012 season and Schwartzel will aim to make it back-to-back South African victories on home soil at the start of the fourth edition of The Race to Dubai.
Schwartzel, of course, followed 2010 Open Champion Oosthuizen into the elite group of Major winners when he claimed the Green Jacket at Augusta National last April, having indicated his form by successfully defending his Joburg Open title three months previously.
The 27 year old fired four rounds in the 60s at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club last year, including a sensational second round 61, to finish four strokes clear of compatriot Garth Mulroy, having won the title by six shots in 2010.
Should Schwartzel make it a hat-trick, he would join an exclusive band of players to win the same official European Tour event three years in a row, matching the achievements of Ian Woosnam (1990-92 Monte Carlo Open), Sir Nick Faldo (1991-93 Irish Open), Colin Montgomerie (1998-2000 PGA Championship), Ernie Els (2002-04 Heineken Classic) and Tiger Woods (2005-07 WGC – CA Championship and WGC – Bridgestone Invitational).
“It is a golf course I’ve played many times as an amateur and junior and I grew up not too far away from Royal Johannesburg so it is always nice to play the course,” said Schwarztel. “I’ve always got a good feel when I go back there and always enjoy playing the Joburg Open.
“I get to play a tournament and stay at home in my own bed, which is very cool. It is great for South Africa to have three European Tour events at the start of the year too.”
Leading the challenge to deny Schwartzel a trio of titles will be another South African Major Champion, Retief Goosen, who began his 2012 campaign by finishing third last week, three shots behind Oosthuizen.
Two-time US Open Champion Goosen is a prolific winner on home soil and will be hoping to add to the Joburg Open title to his collection of 14 European Tour victories.
The strong home contingent also includes Richard Sterne, the 2008 Joburg Open champion, who finished sixth in last week’s Africa Open and compatriot Tjaart Van der Walt, who pushed Oosthuizen all the way before coming up two strokes short at East London Golf Club.
Argentine Ariel Canete is another former champion in the field, having won the title in 2007, the first year the tournament was co-sanctioned by The European Tour and the Sunshine Tour.
With 210 players – 206 professionals and four amateurs – the Joburg Open has the largest field of the 2012 season.
It is also one of only three events on the 2012 International Schedule – along with the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and the Barclays Singapore Open – to be played on two or more courses, with the field playing the first 36 holes over the East Course and West Course before the halfway cut of the top 65 players and ties head into weekend battle for the lion’s share of the €1.3 million prize fund.
