SDC Championship: Fantasy DP World Tour ones to watch

Feel closer to the action on the DP World Tour by competing against golf fans from around the world in our official Fantasy game as the International Swing on the 2024 Race to Dubai continues with the SDC Championship.

To play Fantasy DP World Tour, click here.

After the DP World Tour returned to the continent of Africa last week for the Magical Kenya Open, South Africa now plays host to the first of back-to-back co-sanctioned events with the Sunshine Tour.

Matthew Baldwin is the defending champion this week at St Francis Links after winning his maiden DP World Tour title on his milestone 200th DP World Tour start last year.

There is a strong South African challenge in action in the Eastern Cape, with in-form Zander Lombard joined by DP World Tour winners Thriston Lawrence, Ockie Strydom and Dylan Frittelli among others.

If you have not done so already, you can sign up to play the official 2024 DP World Tour Fantasy game and submit your six-man team before round one gets under way on Thursday: https://fantasy.dpworldtour.com/

The 2024 season-long winner will win a trip to the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next year, enjoy a lesson with a DP World Tour professional and a round of golf on the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. For more information on this amazing prize and others, read here.

Fantasy Insight: As it stands, Zander Lombard is the strong favourite among players of our Fantasy Game this week, featuring in 67% of teams. Other popular players include Thriston Lawrence (49%) and Ewen Ferguson (48%).

Antoine Rozner, who has three top 20s so far this year, is the fourth most picked player, featuring in 40% of Fantasy teams, marginally ahead of fellow DP World Tour winner Tom McKibbin.

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

Favourite - Zander Lombard

In front of a home crowd, the South African will hope to perform well again as he goes in search of an elusive DP World Tour title.

With no worse than a tie for 16th in his five starts on the International Swing, Lombard has been a model of consistency.

In fact, his form which has seen him climb to a career-high 96th in the Official World Golf Ranking stretches back to the D+D Real Czech Masters, the last time he missed a cut.

He finished fourth, 12th and then 25th in his first three starts of the campaign on home soil and was in contention for the title at the Dimension Data Pro-Am on the European Challenge Tour in an off week earlier this month.

Form Horse - Ewen Ferguson

With back-to-back top tens in Qatar and Kenya, the Scotsman is finding momentum and confidence in his game.

On the cusp of surpassing his career-high position of 117th on the Official World Golf Ranking, Ferguson returns to a venue where he finished in a tie for third on debut last season.

Unlike Lombard, who began his campaign towards the tail end of last year, Ferguson started the season in the Middle East and is already on track to reach the season-ending DP World Tour Championship for a third consecutive year.

But as he approaches his milestone 100th DP World Tour start, could this week be his time to add a third piece of silverware to his mantelpiece?

Wild Card - Ugo Coussaud

Riding high in both the Race to Dubai and International Swing rankings, the Frenchman returns to action after missing last week's Magical Kenya Open.

Prior to that, he finished runner-up in Qatar and is one of several Challenge Tour graduates who have impressed.

His record on South African soil is impressive, having finished in the top 20 on all four starts in the country on the Challenge Tour last year.

With the opportunity to win his maiden DP World Tour and boost his hopes of securing his place in the Genesis Scottish Open field through the International Swing rankings as the top finisher who is not already exempt, incentive is not in short supply for the 31-year-old.

Looking back - Magical Kenya Open

Last week, Darius van Driel made it back-to-back first-time winners on the DP World Tour with a wire-to-wire victory in Kenya.

With only 2% of players selecting the Dutchman last week, those who had him will have made significant gains in their leagues.

Among a host of great stories to emerge at Muthaiga Golf Club was the performance of Joe Dean, a graduate of Qualifying School last year.

Picked in just 1% of teams, the Englishman finished joint second in just his second start of the season to play his way into the Team of the Week, days on from working as a delivery driver for UK supermarket chain Morrisons.

Rikuya Hoshino, our Favourite in this feature last time out, finished in a tie for 64, earning 109 points to climb to the top of the Fantasy standings for the season.

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