The fact that Charl Schwartzel shot a six-under-par 67 in Wednesday’s Pro-Am will be daunting news for the rest of the field teeing it up in the Volvo Golf Champions event at the Fancourt Links.

Schwartzel is the highest ranked golfer in the 35-man exclusive field at ninth in the world and the one aspect of his game that was lacking when he missed the cut in last week’s Joburg Open seems to be coming right.

“Last week, I missed the cut but I played decently, I just couldn’t get the ball in the hole! I only missed four greens in 36 holes and my game feels even better now. I just hope the putts go in … I made some nice putts today,” Schwartzel said after the Pro-Am.

The Masters champion is looking forward to a tough challenge at Fancourt – his wonderful ball-striking makes it a given that he’ll be able to get on to the greens in regulation more often than most.

“I like tough courses. Last week and at the Africa Open, it just became a putting contest, whoever putted the best wins. But there’s a lot more to it here.”

Not that the Fancourt greens are a cakewalk either and Schwartzel warned that it would not be easy for the European contingent to succeed if they do not have knowledge of the course.

“The surfaces of the green are so good, there’s not much bounce so if the putt is on-line, it’s in. But the layout of the greens is pretty severe, there are some elephants buried under some of them and you need to avoid those areas.

“You need to know the course very well, especially the greens, before you hit your approach shots. The key is knowing what you’re doing before you hit your approach and you’re not going to get that from one practice round. There are some really big slopes and they can work for you, but they can also quickly bite you,” Schwartzel warned.