Nedbank Golf Challenge: DP World Tour Fantasy ones to watch

After the season-opening double-header Down Under brought two first-time winners, we bring fans of the DP World Tour’s official fantasy game all they need to know ahead of the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Elvis Smylie and American Ryggs Johnston take their place in a 66-strong field at Gary Player Country Club for the first of back-to-back stops in South Africa on the 2025 Race to Dubai schedule.

Max Homa returns to Sun City as the defending champion, with the American joined by countryman and fellow PGA TOUR star Will Zalatoris in an international field that also includes Canadian Presidents Cup duo Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes.

Thriston Lawrence heads a strong South African contingent in Sun City alongside Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Erik van Rooyen, with a host of fellow multiple-time DP World Tour winners also teeing it up.

Among those are 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett, while seven of the ten players to earn dual membership via the Race to Dubai at the end of last season are competing at Africa’s Major.

From insight into the week’s most-picked players among Fantasy managers, to our ones to watch, we run the rule ahead of Thursday’s deadline to pick your team.

Who are the most backed players?

With three South Africans among the top five most picked players, local knowledge appears key for users of our Fantasy game.

Lawrence is the most popular pick in 78% of teams, with Bezuidenhout at 65% and Van Rooyen at 44%. Only 2023 champion Homa at 67% and Nicolai Højgaard at 48% split the South Africa favouritism.

Who are our ones to watch?

Here, we pick out three players in action this week who are worth considering for your Fantasy team selections.

Favourite – Max Homa

The American claimed his first DP World Tour win at Sun City as he rounded off a standout year in 2023, in which he collected his sixth PGA TOUR title and finished as Team USA’s top points-scorer on his Ryder Cup debut. Victory this week would see him emulate Jim Furyk, who won this title in back-to-back years in 2005 and 2006. A third-place finish at the Masters Tournament is Homa’s best finish in 2024, and the World Number 35 returns to South Africa as the top-ranked player in this week’s field.

Form Horse – Paul Waring

While the early season form of Smylie is hard to ignore, we’ve opted for someone who enjoyed a brilliant end to the 2024 Race to Dubai campaign. The Englishman won his second DP World Tour title – six years after his first – at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and backed it up with a top 20 at the DP World Tour Championship to finish fifth on the season-long Race to Dubai Rankings. Now a dual member on the DP World Tour and the PGA TOUR for 2025, confidence should be sky high. Since his debut at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in 2017, he has two top 20s in his four starts.

Wild Card – Ryan van Velzen

After attending the event as a fan on a few occasions, the South African arrives for his debut as a player after earning his spot in the limited field as the winner of the Sunshine Tour’s Order of Merit for the 2023/24 season. While he may only be 23, he has shown signs of his promise on the DP World Tour, most notably with his runner-up finish on home soil at the Investec South African Open Championship at the end of 2023. Ranked just outside the top 400 in the world, could he continue the early-season trend of surprise first-time winners on Tour this week?

How can I play?

If you have not done so already, you can still sign up to play the official 2025 DP World Tour Fantasy game and submit your six-man team before round one gets under way on Thursday.

To play Fantasy DP World Tour, click here.

What can I win?

There are plenty of prizes on offer throughout the 2025 season including the Ultimate Prize courtesy of DP World which includes:

- Flights to Dubai for two people

- Accommodation in Dubai for two people

- Private lesson from a top DP World Tour professional on the Earth Course driving range

- Two ball on the Earth Course the day after tournament play finishes

- Two General Admission Season Tickets for the 2025 DP World Tour Championship

Those that finish second to fifth in the season long competition will also receive a range of DP World Tour Store vouchers. There will also be prizes to be won on a weekly and monthly basis so no matter how well you start or when you sign up to play, you will always have the opportunity to win.

Looking back – ISPS HANDA Australian Open

Last week's winner Ryggs Johnston, who secured his Tour card through Qualifying School, helped those who picked him get ahead of the curve, featuring in 0.92% of teams and being selected as captain by just two players.

Our Favourite Joaquin Niemann finished tied fifth alongside our Form Horse Elvis Smylie, while Challenge Tour graduate Angel Ayora was 23rd as our Wild Card.

Season so far - 2024 DP World Tour Fantasy Top 10 player rankings