European Tour Fantasy Golf Predictions – 2018 Tshwane Open

2018 Tshwane Open Fantasy Preview

You wait an eternity for a talented Englishman to land his maiden European Tour titles….and then two come along almost at once!

Following in the footsteps of Chris Paisley at the BMW SA Open, the superb Eddie Pepperell took the honors at the Qatar Masters last week to end a long old wait for a first senior-level trophy. He has undoubted talent, and you wonder what kind of a springboard this will prove to be for the likable 27-year-old.

Maybe we’re just biased, as Pepperell gave this column our second consecutive winner after Joost Luiten did the business at the Oman Open a week prior.

Eddie Pepperell of England poses with the trophy following his…

Eddie Pepperell of England poses with the trophy following his victory during the final round of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club on February 25, 2018 in Doha, Qatar. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

With the great and the good of the European Tour either having a week off or chasing the riches at the WGC-Mexico Championship, the field is looking rather sparse for the Tshwane Open, which is very much playing second fiddle to the action in Mexico this week.

The field….well, let’s just say this is going to be a tricky renewal to pick through. The favorite is George Coetzee ($11,700), a member at this Pretoria Golf Club who won the title here in 2015. But as anybody who follows ‘Big George’ knows, he is as unpredictable as the wind, and can often leave his backers in the depths of despair as he finds a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

There’s not a huge amount that excites about the other big guns this week either, with Alexander Bjork ($11,500, no European Tour wins), Julian Suri ($10,500, formline of MC-68-MC-63) and Marcus Kinhult ($10,300, just 22 European Tour starts to his name) not exactly setting the pulses racing. It could be one of *those* weeks.

Of course, a field lacking star quality offers players a chance to make a cut and find their form, or pick up that maiden title they have been waiting for. But an examination of the last four winners of the tournament – Ross Fisher, Coetzee, Charl Schwartzel and Dean Burmester – suggests that, more often than not, the cream rises to the top at Pretoria GC.

Perhaps that is due to the nature of this stretch, which is a tight, tree-lined and testing layout that requires a decent all-round game. It’s a short assignment at around 6,830 yards for its Par 71, and the insinuation is that it can be overpowered: last year, the first four players home all averaged over 315 yards off the tee. Accuracy and finding greens in regulation didn’t seem to be a massive deal; it was more of a bomb, scramble and putt your way to success kind of week. With minimal rain around in Pretoria, that might just be the route to glory once again.

In a tough old week to whittle down a shortlist of maybe’s and possible’s, who has made our cut for our Tshwane Open draft? Let’s have a look…

This Week’s Tshwane Open Fantasy Picks & Predictions

You must be a Premium Member to view our exclusive fantasy golf picks.

Already a member?  Sign in Here.

Cover photo via Instagram