A group of six South Africans will be in action at this week’s Houston Open with Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace and Dylan Frittelli three of the competitors to keep an eye on.
Some of the biggest names in golf will head to Memorial Park Golf Course on Thursday for the final hit-out before next week’s Masters with the return of world No 1 Dustin Johnson the hottest topic of the week after he contracted Covid-19.
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Frittelli finished in T11 at the Zozo Championship two weeks ago and has been paired alongside the American duo of Andrew Putnam and Michael Kim for the first two rounds, with William Hill having him at odds of 80/1 to claim his second PGA Tour title on Sunday.
Schwartzel will be hoping for a much more consistent performance this week with the Houston Open his first appearance since last month’s Shriners Open where he failed to make the cut. The 2011 Masters champion will tee off in a group consisting of himself, Tom Hoge and Scottie Scheffler.
After a valiant fightback at last week’s Bermuda Championship, Grace looks set for a big week at Memorial and will be confident with his grouping of Scott Brown and Graham DeLaet.
Erik van Rooyen will go into the event with the best odds of all the South Africans with William Hill favouring him at 60/1. Van Rooyen is back on the PGA Tour for the first time since September’s Safeway Open, having made a couple of appearances on the European Tour. He will play next to Brian Harman and Brian Stuard.
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Dawie van der Walt, who has been competing on the Korn Ferry Tour, will make a rare appearance on the PGA Tour this week with an exciting opportunity at the Houston Open. He has been group-paired with Isaiah Salinda and Kyle Hogan.
Justin Harding will complete the South African contingent, also hoping for more consistency playing the opening two rounds with Ben Willman and Sam Fidone.
