Steve Palmer's South African Open preview, best bets, free golf tips, TV details

Golf tips, best bets and player analysis for the South African Open at Randpark Golf Club on the European Tour.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Golf from 10am Thursday

Best bets

Erik van Rooyen
3pts each-way 10-1 general
Back this tip with Paddy Power
Brandon Stone
2pts each-way 30-1 Sky Bet
Back this tip with Paddy Power
Sam Horsfield
1pt each-way 60-1 Sky Bet
Back this tip with bet365

Louis Oosthuizen was overcome with emotion after winning his national Open for the first time last year and the defending champion is a short-priced favourite for a Randpark repeat.

Oosthuizen, runner-up in the Australian Open in his last strokeplay event, dominated Randpark on his course debut 12 months ago and must be respected. He failed to win his final two matches of an ultimately disappointing Presidents Cup campaign last time out, though, and the general 5-1 is unappealing with the suspicion that he may not be at full throttle for his opening start of 2020.

Oosthuizen enjoys putting his clubs away and fully immersing himself in off-course pleasures, so has probably had hardly any practice since the Presidents Cup. Younger, hungrier souls are preferred punting propositions at bigger prices this week.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Erik van Rooyen 10-1

The most likely player to dethrone Oosthuizen this week must be the ever-improving Erik van Rooyen, who lived in Johannesburg for most of his adult life before switching his base Stateside last year. He knows Randpark well and appears ready to rip it apart.

Van Rooyen ended 2019 with a smile on his face courtesy of a world ranking of 49, which was just enough to secure a Masters debut in April. The amiable 29-year-old has forced his way into the elite with consistently excellent European Tour performance and he can approach a low-grade national Open this week with supreme confidence.

Van Rooyen's Major form figures of 17-8-43-20 underline what a quality ball-striker he has become and Randpark's Firethorn layout, softened by heavy recent rain and playing extremely long, is an ideal place for him to showcase that skill.

Big Erik won his only Sunshine Tour event in the Johannesburg suburb of Eikenhof – the 2017 Eye of Africa PGA Championship – and his sole competitive spin at Randpark yielded second place in the Joburg Open at the end of 2017 in just his second start as a European Tour member.

The power-packed six-footer got off the mark on the Challenge Tour in 2017 before contending numerous times on the European Tour, suffering three runner-up finishes and more than his fair share of hellish Sundays. The breakthrough finally came at the end of August, though, with a pair of weekend 64s in the Scandinavian Invitation. A courageous 18th-hole birdie meant a one-shot victory and a relieved Van Rooyen had a huge weight lifted from his shoulders.

Plenty of good golf has followed that success in Sweden, including a playoff defeat in the Turkish Airlines Open, and Van Rooyen can be expected to start 2020 with a bang. He has never been higher in the world rankings and has never been more dangerous.

Next best bet

Brandon Stone 30-1

The old guard of Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel are being shown great reverence by the layers, but it may be the next generation of Van Rooyen and Brandon Stone who contest the finish at the Firethorn on Sunday.

Stone appeared to be getting his act together at the end of last year, contending in the French Open and the Portugal Masters before signing off with 13th spot in the Mauritius Open. Weekend cardbusters have been his undoing – a pair of double-bogeys in Paris, then a triple and a double in Mauritius – but the volume of birdies coming from this attacking sort is impressive.

The soft conditions this week will allow Stone to unleash his natural aggression and the 26-year-old can threaten a second SA Open title. Two of his three European Tour triumphs have come in South Africa and one previous start at Randpark resulted in a closing 66 for a share of seventh place 12 months ago.

Other selection

Sam Horsfield 60-1

The best of the overseas raiders may be Sam Horsfield, a 23-year-old English powerhouse who has shown he can handle South African conditions. The Manchester-born youngster finished runner-up in the 2018 Tshwane Open and he arrives for an even more suitable assignment this week with five months of solid form under his belt.

From the Czech Masters onwards – an 11-event stretch – Horsfield has not finished worse than 53rd place and has been consistently adding healthy cheques to his bank balance. He has clearly got enough talent to upset the locals and become the fourth English winner in the last six editions of the SA Open, following Andy Sullivan, Graeme Storm and Chris Paisley.

Players to note

Gavin Green
The powerful Malaysian youngster, Asian Tour Order of Merit winner in 2017, has been maturing into a European Tour champion and carded four under-par rounds at Randpark in the Joburg Open.

Min Woo Lee
The Australian, like Green, is blessed with effortless length and should enjoy the soft terrain this week, but he is seriously inexperienced and is competing in South Africa for the first time.

Charl Schwartzel
The former Masters champion made a surprisingly productive return from a long injury layoff with third place in the Alfred Dunhill before Christmas, but he has never won his national Open and has faltered badly from the front at times, finishing third last year after rounds of 67, 63, 72, 72.

Branden Grace
The Pretorian has won half of his eight European Tour titles in his homeland – and a share of third in the Alfred Dunhill last time out was encouraging – but he has slipped outside the world's top 100 and lost a lot of confidence.

Dean Burmester
The South African slugger is well equipped to take advantage of the wet December and the soft Randpark, but five of his last nine events have resulted in a missed cut.

George Coetzee
The mercurial 33-year-old, twice a winner of the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, has won four European Tour events in Africa. He is a probable dangerman if in the right frame of mind.

Randpark course guide

Courses Firethorn Course and Bushwillow Course, Randpark Golf Club, Randburg, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Prize money €1m (€175,000 to the winner)
Lengths Firethorn 7,506 yards, Bushwillow 7,114 yards
Pars Both 71
Field 240
Course records- (Firethorn) 72 holes 274 Mathias Gronberg (2000), 18 holes 62 Christofer Blomstrand (2018 Joburg Open); (Bushwillow)18 holes 61 Shubhankar Sharma (2018 Joburg Open)

Course winners taking part Louis Oosthuizen, Ryan Tipping (2009 SAA Invitational)

When to bet By 4.30am Thursday

When to watch Live on Sky Sports Golf from 10am Thursday

Time difference South Africa is two hours ahead of UK and Ireland time

Course overview Randpark was used for the South African Open in 2000, with Mathias Gronberg winning at 14 under par, but the course did not host again until last year. Louis Oosthuizen reached 18 under par to triumph by six shots. The long, beautifully manicured, tree-lined Firethorn layout has plenty of water in play. It was extensively remodelled in 2014, staging the Joburg Open won by Shubhankar Sharma at the end of 2017 before becoming the SA Open venue. Three of the four rounds of the Joburg Open were on the Firethorn Course, with the other at the neighbouring Bushwillow, and that is also the case for the South African Opens at Randpark. There are three par-fives at the Firethorn – the fourth, 12th and 14th. The toughest holes on the front nine are the 503-yard par-four second and the long par threes (the fifth and eighth), while the back nine features three long par fours (the tenth, 16th and 18th). The closing three holes, including the 223-yard par-three 17th, have been described as a “death or glory” stretch. The challenging trio provide much scope for late drama. The Bushwillow is similar but shorter and much easier

The story of last year Louis Oosthuizen turned the event into a procession, cruising to his first South African Open title, with Romain Langasque second

Weather forecast Further storms arrived early this week to soak an already rain-softened layout, and more rain is forecast for Thursday and Sunday. Light to moderate breezes

Type of player suited to the challenge A wet December has set up Randpark for the powerhouses, the soggy turf meaning both tracks will play to their full length, encouraging an aggressive and attacking approach

Key attribute Power

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