If the South African Open, held last week, has never been conquered by the Spaniards, the Alfred Dunhill Championship that takes place from Thursday to Sunday at the classic Leopard Creek has been a friendly place for the Armada, which has lifted the precious trophy of the predator up to four times. The last time was in 2019, when an injured Pablo Larrazábal, limping from blisters on his feet in the final round, claimed victory. Before that, in 2009 and 2010, Pablo Martín Benavides hit bingo twice in a row. And in 2006 the winner was Álvaro Quirós… on December 10th.
The fact, anecdotal but there it is, is not trivial, as it is the only edition of the Alfred Dunhill that curiously has been played between the 7th and 10th of December, the same dates as now, when half a dozen Spaniards will seek the fifth crown for our golf on the Malelane course that has been the venue for this event since 2004. Quirós, by the way, took the first victory of his career in his third tournament on the European Tour and against rivals such as Charl Schwartzel (second), Lee Westwood (third), Ross Fisher and Darren Fichardt (fourth). Impressive. For example, Manu Elvira could hit the jackpot in his fifth stop (two this season and two last) on the DP World Tour…
Along with the Cantabrian will compete in Leopard Creek Álex del Rey (fifth in the South African Open), Santi Tarrio, Sebas García Rodríguez, Iván Cantero and Ángel Hidalgo, who makes his season debut at this South African event. The reigning runner-up, Adrián Otaegui, who recently went through the vicarage, will not be in contention. The Guipuzcoan finished in 2022 two strokes behind the winner, local Ockie Strydom, who finally crowned himself with a victory after 19 second places in his career; two months later he scored another victory in Singapore.
The South Africans, who are seeking their third consecutive victory at the start of the calendar after the two jackpots achieved by Dean Burmester in the Joburg Open and the South African Open (and he’s going for the third in a row…), have monopolised the victories in the last nine editions, with the exceptions of Larrazábal and David Lipsky. Schwartzel prevailed in 2012, 2013 and 2015.
Strydom took the leopard to the water with -18 and the result in this 2023 can even hover around -20 or better (-24 is the course record set by Schwartzel in 2012) because the main difference compared to 2022 is that the greens are more receptive and this will allow very low rounds to be seen, especially in the first two rounds, where some water and hardly any wind is expected, another point in favour of making birdies galore.
Leopard Creek maintains its cache as one of the best courses of the year on the DP World Tour and if last week the Blair Atholl Golf & Equestrian State was a place that suited the bombers (it is the longest course in the history of the tour), this time the winner will have to demonstrate his skills with all the clubs in the bag as it is a layout for very complete players, as it demands all the shots, with long holes, short ones, drives with right to left shots and also left to right, some complicated greens with pianos that can cause some upset… In this edition they have widened the fairways and this will encourage more shots to the flag, although beware because some platforms are small and can complicate life for more than one if they are out of position with the irons. You have to play very fine and the champion will surely be at a very high level because luck rarely influences in this magnificent Leopard Creek where on December 10, 2006, 17 years ago on Sunday, Álvaro Quirós grabbed his first professional title on the DP World Tour. Hopefully, the glory will be repeated for a member of the Armada this weekend.
