Darren Fichardt is relishing competing on home soil for the next month, starting at this week’s South African Open Championship hosted by the City of Ekurhuneli, the first event of the 2014 season.
The 2013 Race to Dubai only finished last week, but after a successful Final Series Fichardt is heading straight back to work for a four-tournament swing in his native country.
The 38 year old finished the last campaign 48thin The Race to Dubai after taking a share of 21st place in last week’s DP World Tour Championship, and he is keen to carry that form into the new campaign, starting in this week’s €1.1million event at Glendower Golf Club.
“It’s always nice to get back home and it’s good to have four in a row back home,” said Fichardt. “Glendower is a very old, traditional golf course. I’ve played there a lot since I was very young, competing in amateur tournaments and such like. It’s a great course.
“The past four weeks have been unbelievably awesome tournaments, but there has been a lot of travelling and I can’t wait to get back to South Africa.
“My game’s very good and a couple of things I’ve been working on have come to pass, so it’s all good.”
Fichardt played with Rory McIlroy in the first two rounds in Dubai last week, and joked: “He just hits it so far, I was always too far away from him to pick up anything.”
The South African Open Championship is the first opportunity for players who graduated from last week’s Qualifying School Final Stage to make their mark on The European Tour, including Carlos Del Moral, who won the six-round event at PGA Catalunya Resort.
Other notable names in the field include the 2011 Masters Champion and home favourite Charl Schwartzel; Edoardo Molinari, who is playing his first event since July after undergoing surgery on his injured wrist; and his fellow Italian Andrea Pavan, who returns to The European Tour after emulating Molinari’s achievement in winning the Challenge Tour Rankings.
