Three of South Africa’s best – Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen – will look to cash in on their good form over recent weeks at the Memorial Tournament.
Grace starts this week at Muirfield Village – Jack Nicklaus’ course and the site of the 1987 Ryder Cup, 1998 Solheim Cup (1998) and 2013 Presidents Cup – on the back of two top-five finishes after a 62 in the final round of the AT&T Byron Nelson lifted him to a share of third before contending last week at Wentworth.
Grace, who at 31 in the world is the top-ranked South African, finished in a share of fifth place at the BMW PGA Championship and will look to take full advantage of solid form since he won the Nedbank Golf Challenge in 2017 and finished second at the BMW SA Open at Glendower in January.
He will be joined in the first two rounds by James Hahn and Wesley Bryan.
Grace at Muirfield:
- 0 from 4 points at 2013 Presidents Cup (debut)
Two spots back of Grace in the official world rankings at 33, Oosthuizen bounced back from two missed cuts in a row (The Players and Wells Fargo Championship) with a good showing at the Fort Worth Invitational. A share of fifth alongside Jon Rahm was the perfect tonic for two weekends off, a lean spell for the smooth-swinging South African, who had a T9 and T12 in his sequence before Wells Fargo Championship.
Matt Kuchar and Marc Leishman join Oosthuizen in a morning tee time and should provide a good benchmark of what’s to come in one of the strongest fields assembled anywhere in the world all year.
Oosthuizen at Muirfield:
- 1.5 from 4 at ’13 Presidents Cup (debut)
The last of South Africa’s strong hopes this week is Charl Schwartzel, who has made a swift return to form following one of the leanest periods in his career. It was a comment from friend and Zurich Classic teammate, Oosthuizen, that helped the 2011 Masters champion return to his best, which has seen two top 10s in a row since they combined to finish third in New Orleans.
Reigning Rookie of the Year, Xander Schauffele, and Jonas Blixt will join Schwartzel over the first two days.
Schwartzel at Muirfield:
- 2 from 4 at ’13 Presidents Cup
- MC (2015), T11 (2016 )and T35 (2017)
Ernie Els is playing this week on a sponsor’s exemption with Rory Sabbatini the final Saffa in the field.
