SCHAPER EMERGES AS SOLID PROSPECT
JAYDEN SCHAPER WAS HEAD-AND- shoulders the best of our young pros- pects in the Opening Swing events of the DP World Tour. The 22-year-old from Ebotse Links has moved his game to another level in the past year, and his performances under the constant focus of the TV cameras were impressive. He was the only player to finish in the Top 10 of all four tournaments, T-9 at Joburg Open, T-5 SA Open, T-7 Alfred Dunhill, sixth in Mauritius. Financially that earned him R2.8-million. He never once went off the boil, coping admirably with the weekly pressure. He was 38-under-par, and while he may never have looked like winning, his weekend scores, other than a closing 74 at Blair Atholl in the SA Open, were solid. He must have learned plenty from the experience. Schaper has a wonderful demeanour, rarely showing much emotion, and his strength appears to be his composure and a sound putting stroke. But he has a fine allround game. His driving distance in these four events was 310 yards (284 metres) and his GIR stats nearly 70%. If there is a weakness, he misses more fairways than he should, and is average
in sand saves. Casey Jarvis, his direct rival in the youth stakes, will have been disappointed with his Opening Swing. Perhaps a long year overseas caught up with this clearly talented 20-year-old, who has a fabulous short game. He had one top-10 finish, and was 21 shots worse than Schaper. His driving looks erratic. What goes on at the weekend with him? Jarvis had a first-round average of 67, and second round 69.5. Then 73.25 on Saturday and 72 on Sunday. Both have DP World Tour cards for the coming year, and their progress will be closely followed by a SA golfing public hungry for a new champion. We also have Garrick Higgo, 24, in America,
whose continued absence from his home tournaments is regretful. His last appearance here was a missed cut in the 2020 SA Open at Sun City, before his big year with three international wins in 2021.
THE MODERN TRIPLE CROWN OF TITLES
The Sunshine Tour’s Triple Crown of titles used to be the SA Open, PGA and Masters. Ernie Els won all three in January-February 1992. However, for the new generation it is now the SA Open, Joburg Open and Dunhill, all part of the DP World Tour and played continuously for a big chunk of this millennium. The modern Triple Crown has only been achieved by two players, Richard Sterne, who won all three in the same year of 2008, and Branden Grace (Joburg Open 2012, Dunhill 2014, SA Open 2020). Seven players have two legs of the Triple Crown: Charl Schwartzel (Dunhill 4 and Joburg Open 2), Andy Sullivan (Joburg Open and SA Open in the same year 2015), Dean Burmester (Joburg Open and SA Open 2023), Thriston Lawrence (Joburg Open and SA Open), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Dunhill and SA Open 2020), Ernie Els (Dunhill and SA Open), and Louis Oosthuizen (Dunhill and SA Open).
LOWEST ROUNDS IN 2023 59 Casey Jarvis at Dainfern, Stella Artois Players 61 Kyle Barker at Dainfern, Stella Artois Players 62 Darren Fichardt at Royal Cape, Cape Town Open 62 Darren Fichardt at Dainfern, Stella Artois Players 62 JJ Senekal at Zebula, SDC Open 62 Jaco Prinsloo at Humewood, Nelson Mandela Bay 62 Dan Erickson at Dainfern, Stella Artois Players 62 Matthew Spacey at Nkonyeni, FNB Eswatini Challenge 62 Thriston Lawrence, at Houghton, Joburg Open 62 Nikhil Rama, at Houghton, Joburg Open 62 Dean Burmester, at Houghton, Joburg Open 62 Antoine Rozner, La Reserve Links, Mauritius Open
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 95
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online