World number 93 Brandon Stone is hoping to improve on what has been a breakthrough season for him. In his only his third appearance on European soil he will look for better than his missed cuts in both Spain and Ireland.
Stone broke onto the Sunshine Tour with a victory at the Lion of Africa Cape Town Open in November 2015 and backed it up with a top-20 finish at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
He started 2016 in stunning fashion by winning the SA Open, securing playing rights on the European Tour for two years and rising to the top of the local Order of Merit.
Top-30 finishes followed at the Joburg Open and the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, before it got even better for the 23-year-old. Four top-10 finishes in five starts, with a best of runner-up at the Shenzhen International, helped Stone rocket up the Race to Dubai standings where he now holds 23rd place.
The Johannesburger will hope to see the weekend as he has only once failed to make the top-30 after making the cut, which is a clear sign of the talent he possesses.
He is joined by fellow South Africans Jaco van Zyl, Trevor Fisher Jnr, George Coetzee, Haydn Porteous, Darren Fichardt, Richard Sterne, and Hennie Otto.
