South Africa will have double the number of golfers competing at the PLAYERS Championship this year as Retief Goosen returns, writes ANDRE HUISAMEN.
Goosen, who plays his golf on the PGA Champions Tour these days, will be joined by Erik van Rooyen, Dylan Frittelli and Christiaan Bezuidenhout at TPC Sawgrass, while Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace complete the South African contingent for the week.
Charl Schwartzel, who was one of the runner-ups at the event in 2018 but missed the cut last year, will not feature in the 2020 event.
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Bezuidenhout and Frittelli will head into Thursday’s start with a great deal of confidence after grinding out a T18 finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The former, though, was only three shots behind the leader at the start of the final round before he, like many others, succumbed to the conditions en route to a closing 79.
His form throughout the year has been consistent and another four good days at the Stadium Course could be the start of a big year on the international stage.
Oosthuizen has had a quiet few weeks leading up to the event in Florida.
The 37-year-old missed the cut at the Honda Classic two weeks ago and also experienced a difficult competition at the WGC-Mexico Championship the week prior.
He did, however make a fast start the year after coming close to defending his SA Open title in January and then racking up a top-five finish at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
He has also dropped down to 19th in the Official World Golf Rankings and will be eager to deliver a consistent performance this week.
Van Rooyen, who already has a spot at the Masters secured, will be keen to make up for the cut he missed at the Honda Classic and the PLAYERS will be the perfect opportunity for him to build on the T3 finish he achieved at the WGC-Mexico Championship.
