Ken Borland

A prize of R3.5 million is at stake as the Chase to the Investec Cup Final tees off at the Millvale Private Retreat west of Rustenburg on Thursday with Trevor Fisher Junior on top of the standings with a 111.73-point lead.

But his defence of his title – as well as the first place on the standings he achieved last year – will be under attack from classy golfers like Charl Schwartzel, George Coetzee and Morten Orum Madsen, as well as in-form locals like Jacques Blaauw, Dean Burmester, Keith Horne and Wallie Coetsee.

With 1500 points on offer for the winner of the Chase to the Investec Cup Final, and 180 points guaranteed for last place, Fisher Junior can be overtaken by 21 of the 30-man field for the big prize when the tournament ends on Sunday at the Lost City.

Apart from Fisher Junior, who won the Africa Open two weeks ago and has done so well in the co-sanctioned events that he is 23^rd in the Race to Dubai, the other golfer coming into the tournament with great form is Dean Burmester, who had top-20 finishes in the Dimension Data Pro-Am and the Joburg, Africa and Tshwane Opens.

Coetzee, in 11^th place in the standings, 829.15 points behind Fisher Junior, put some poor form behind him as he won the Tshwane Open in fine style last weekend and the world number 67 led going into the final round of the Investec Cup final last year so he has a score to settle.

There is plenty of water around Millvale to have errant golfers in trouble, while the greens are slick and, given that Gary Player was one of the designers, canny bunkering is no surprise.

With overseas players like Andy Sullivan and Kevin Phelan, and locals like Branden Grace and Thomas Aiken turning down the chance to play for the bonus pool, Sunshine Tour regulars like Justin Harding, Louis de Jager, Jbe’ Kruger and Chris Swanepoel have earned a ticket to the lucrative summer finale in North-West.

The last two holes provided just the boost Morten Orum Madsen needed for him to claim the lead in the first round of the Tshwane Open at Pretoria Country Club on Thursday.

Madsen, who started his round on the 10^th tee, spun a 54-degree wedge back a long way on the 123-metre eighth hole for a fabulous hole-in-one and then posted an eagle-three on the ninth for a seven-under-par 63 that gave the Dane, the 2014 SA Open winner, the early lead in the co-sanctioned event.

Englishman David Horsey also posted a 63 later in the day, with seven birdies and no bogeys, to share the lead after the first day, one shot ahead of South Africa’s in-form Wallie Coetsee and Australian Brett Rumford.

There are even more locals on five-under-par, in a tie for fifth, with Dean Burmester, Keith Horne, and Merrick Bremner all shooting 65s, while Chris Swanepoel, Oliver Bekker, last week’s Africa Open winner Trevor Fisher Junior, Justin Walters, Ockie Strydom and Erik van Rooyen are all on four-under.

Madsen’s efforts on Thursday follow closing rounds of 64 and 66 in last weekend’s Africa Open.

“I’ve put it in the fairway a lot more recently. I’m giving myself a lot more looks at birdie and that makes everything easier. It takes the stress off the putter a bit and it’s easier to relax,” Madsen said.

Horsey picked up three birdies on the front nine and was delighted with his finish, especially birdies on the 16^th and 17^th holes.

“The last five or six holes are tough and there aren’t many chances, so those were nice birdies. And it’s always good to not have any bogeys because one loose tee-shot here leads to bogey or worse,” Horsey said.

But it was Madsen who gained four shots on his last two holes to steal the limelight.

“I hit a fantastic shot on eight, I couldn’t hit it better, and it spun back into the hole. Then when you stand on the next tee you’re pretty pumped and confident. I succeeded in gathering my thoughts and hit a really nice drive and then a great second shot to 12 feet. It was the kind of thing you dream about, but don’t expect,” Madsen said.

When Charl Schwartzel pictures Glendower Golf Club he does not see the agony of his final round collapse and playoff defeat against Andy Sullivan in the South African Open in January this year or his surrender of the lead in the previous edition of the second-oldest national open.

He sees a course he likes and has played well on, a course that suits his strategic approach to golf.

“I’ve finished second a few times in the South African Open and the title evaded me the last two years here, but Glendower is a course that suits me well and I don’t look at it as two disappointments here. I’m excited that I can come back to a place where I know I came close in the past, I have another opportunity on a course that has treated me well.

“Two years in a row I’ve had chances to win but there are a lot of good players out there and I know the more times I contend, I will eventually break through. But it’s a positive that I’ve come close at Glendower and I’ll come here in early January and prepare well. You have to play cleverly here, think your way around, it requires a lot of strategy and thinking, which is right down my alley,” Schwartzel said at Glendower on Wednesday when the classic old course was announced as the South African Open venue for the third straight year. The 2016 tournament will be from January 7-10.

Schwartzel squandered four shots in the last five holes of the 2015 SA Open and then lost on the first hole of the playoff to Sullivan. The previous Glendower SA Open saw Schwartzel leading by three shots four holes into the final round, before he faded to a 71 and finished three behind winner Morten Orum Madsen.

But the local favourite says he is not chained to the past and is looking forward to starting a fresh year at Glendower in the second week of 2016.

“I’ll have a good break now, I’m not playing any tournaments in December so it will be a nice long break and I feel that I need it. The physical factors are there, my long game is better than ever, but I need to build my confidence back up because you need confidence to win,” Schwartzel said.

The 31-year-old said he hopes the South African Open will continue to be the sort of tournament fathers tell their children about when they’re sitting on their knee, and he was delighted with the announcement of BMW as the new title sponsors.

“It’s even better news that BMW are now involved. When you see the passion of Ernie Els [tournament host] to play in it, it’s inspiring for the future generations. I hope guys like Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace feel the same as me, because I’m going to keep coming back and give it my all. I hope it works out this time, but if it doesn’t, I’ll try again,” Schwartzel said.

With South African golfers desperate to avoid a hat-trick of overseas winners, the fur is sure to fly at Glendower in January, especially if rumours of some huge foreign names coming to play turn out to be true.

Englishman Matt Ford was able to make the Africa Open lead his own with a six-under-par 66 in the second round at East London Golf Club on Friday, but four South Africans made significant progress up the leaderboard to keep local hopes alive.

Ford is on 11-under-par at the midway stage, one stroke ahead of Spaniard Edoardo de la Riva, while Jaco van Zyl, who continues to make an impressive comeback from surgery on both knees last year, and Erik van Rooyen are leading the South African charge on eight-under-par, alongside Frenchman Gregory Havret.

The 36-year-old Ford started on the first tee at 7.05am when conditions were relatively calm compared to the blustery first day, and he was able to make four birdies on his first seven holes. His momentum was temporarily halted with a bogey on the ninth after he carted his tee-shot into the thick coastal bush, but he made up for that with a birdie on 10 and an eagle-two on the 12^th hole.

“I played nicely today, I’m very happy. It’s been two good rounds and hopefully there are two to come. I gave myself plenty of opportunities and was inside 15 feet 11 times. I was just trying to hit good shots and take advantage of the slightly easier conditions,” Ford said.

Van Zyl’s knees are not only holding up well but, more importantly, his putter is too after he struggled last weekend at the Joburg Open, his final-round 66 including 33 shots with the short stick.

“I’m probably at about 70% of how well I can drive, but now I’m making the putts. I had 27 yesterday and 25 today. Yesterday was really tough though and I was very chuffed I managed to shoot two-under. It was a lot easier this morning, it was totally different today, a lot of the holes were into a little breeze but there were still quite a few holes to capitalise on,” Van Zyl said after his round that included five birdies, an eagle and just one bogey.

Former world top-10 golfer David Howell is still in contention on seven-under-par, alongside fellow Englishman John Parry, South Africans Neil Schietekat and Trevor Fisher Junior, Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer and Mark Tullo of Chile.

Van Rooyen started on the ninth hole and picked up two birdies on the back nine before bogeying the par-five first. But the 25-year-old who played college golf in the United States, then posted a band of birdies on his scorecard – five in the next six holes – to roar up the leaderboard.

Van Zyl and his fellow South African mates have a proud record to maintain in the Africa Open, with a foreigner not managing to win the title yet after seven editions of the tournament.

“I’ve got to take it one shot at a time and not get ahead of myself. But if I give myself as many opportunities as  I can to win, then it has to happen some time. But you’ve obviously got to play nicely and being in contention brings different pressures and expectations. But life will become a lot easier once I get a co-sanctioned win under the belt,” Van Zyl said.