8 – 11 DP World Tour, Alfred Dunhill Championship, Leopard Creek Country Club, Malelane, South Africa. Prize money: €1,500,000 Leaderboard
8 – 11 LPGA, Q-Series (Week II), Highland Oaks Golf Course, Dothan, Alabama. Leaderboard
10 – 13 Ladies European Tour, Pre Qualifier – Europe, Real Golf La Manga Club, Cartagena, Spanje. Leaderboard
9 – 11 PGA Tour, QBE Shootout, Tiburon Golf Course, Naples, Florida. Prize Money: $3,800,000 Leaderboard
10 Charity, The Match VII, Pelican Golf Club, Belleair, Florida.
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8 – 11 DP World Tour, Alfred Dunhill Championship, Leopard Creek Country Club, Malelane, South Africa. Prize money: €1,500,000
We start the last really busy golf week of the year, just like the past two weeks, in South Africa. Leopard Creek is without a doubt the most beautiful stop of the DP World Tour in the Rainbow Nation in terms of visuals and experience, so we’re delighted that the Alfred Dunhill Championship is back after being canceled in 2021. After that, we only have the tournament in Mauritius before the new year, which is ushered in mid-January in Dubai. But first the Dunhill: count ‘Big Five’ and enjoy good golf.
Dutch ‘Big Four’ in action
In the Netherlands we can currently speak of a ‘Big Four’ on the Tour. Joost Luiten, Darius van Driel, Daan Huizing and Wil Besseling are all on the start list. For the latter two, this will be their first tournament of the 2023 season. Podje Golf visited “sensitive boy” Besseling during the preparation. He looked back on the last year mostly positively, with participation in the US Open as one of the highlights. From the tee it went well – not unimportant on Leopard Creek – but towards the greens and with the putter it can be even better, according to the Dutch number 1. He therefore mainly focuses on the process, although he says that winning on the Tour is of course something he would love to experience. There are few better places to do that than on this course – and he also celebrates his 37th birthday on Friday.
Don’t pound but think
Leopard Creek, after two tournaments in Johannesburg. A job that appeals to the imagination because of its unparalleled location. The design by (again) Gary Player is adjacent to the Crocodile River and Kruger Park, where players like to get into a ranger’s Jeep after the round to regain their senses. “Don’t just pound the tee hard, but think and stay in position,” Luiten describes the plan of action. In 2007 he made a hole-in-one on hole 12, but last week the good feeling was not yet there with his new irons.
Home favourites
Nine of the fifteen editions at Leopard Creek have been won by South African golfers and they are expected to prove themselves this week as well. Charl Schwartzel, for example, who won three of his four Dunhills here, or LIV colleague Louis Oosthuizen who has fallen out of the top 50 of the world rankings and could sometimes go wrong in qualifying for The Masters. And then of course we also have defending champion Christiaan Bezuidenhout, last week’s winner Thriston Lawrence, Branden Grace and Ernie Els. The highest ranked players from outside South Africa are Scott Vincent and Adrian Otaegui.
Television: Ziggo Sport Golf: Thurs and Fri 11:00-16:00, Sat and Sun 11:00-15:30
We’re thrilled to be back at @LeopardCreekCC for the 2022 #dunhillchamps this week
Here’s a little reminder of why this unique golfing venue is so stunning ✨ pic.twitter.com/IgILRczdRi
— Alfred Dunhill Links Championship (@dunhilllinks) December 5, 2022
8 – 11 LPGA, Q-Series (Week II), Highland Oaks Golf Course, Dothan, Alabama.
Part 2 of the Q-Series and this time it’s all about the marbles – or rather the cards! 75 women have qualified for this stage of the LPGA qualifying process and 45 of them have a good number of starts ahead of them after Sunday. Dewi Weber can confirm that. She finished eleventh in 2021 after 144 holes and played a total of twenty tournaments on the biggest stage this year. The end result was the ungrateful 101st place in the LPGA ranking, so the Dutch is now again ‘in the mix’.
Baankennis
After four rounds, Weber is in 47th place with -5. That is (obviously) just outside the top-45 and five strokes behind the most favorable top-20, so anything is still possible on the Highland Oaks Golf Course. Just like last year, two 9-hole courses will be combined at the complex in southeastern Alabama this week: the Highland Course and the Marshwood Course. Let’s hope self-proclaimed “Q-Series veteran” Weber can take advantage of the job knowledge she possesses.
10 – 13 Ladies European Tour, Pre Qualifier – Europe, Real Golf La Manga Club, Cartagena, Spanje.
While Dewi Weber hopes to improve her starting position for the LPGA, another six Dutch women will start Qualifying School for the Ladies European Tour in Spain this week. It will be determined over two ‘stages’ who can go to the LET next season, and who will play a lower level in the LET Access Series next year. Romy Meekers, Judith van der Voort, Lizzy Peeters (photo), Anouk Sohier, Marit Harryvan and Michelle Wouters will start their Pre Qualifier at the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday. After a total of nine rounds, the top 20 earns the most favorable LET playing right. How many players qualify for the Final Qualifier has yet to be announced at the time of writing.
Beeld: Getty Images
9 – 11 PGA Tour, QBE Shootout, Tiburon Golf Course, Naples, Florida. Prize Money: $3,800,000
The PGA Tour concludes the turbulent golf year with an unofficial pairs tournament. There are no points to earn for the different rankings this week, but that won’t spoil the fun in this QBE Shootout. It has been played on the Greg Norman-designed Gold Course at Tiburón in Florida since the turn of the century. The Australian was also the host of this former ‘Shark Shootout’ until last year, but we’ll keep this section as LIV-free as possible for this week.
Vanaf 2023 mixed team event
There is therefore better news to report prior to the tournament. From next year, the QBE Shootout will be jointly organized on the PGA Tour and LPGA. That means the first ‘mixed team event’ since 1999. “This is something that had to happen for a while,” said Billy Horschel (playing with Jason Day this week) and probably many a golf fan. The number 18 in the world thinks that the extra exposure will benefit women’s sport. For now we have two women in the field. Lexi Thompson is now a regular guest and for the first time she is joined by another LPGA topper, namely the global number 2 Nelly Korda. They join forces with Maverick McNealy and Denny McCarthy on the track they know well from the Tour Championship.
English/Kuchar 4x?
Unfortunately, most of the golf stars are on holiday after last week’s heavy tournament and a few are playing in The Match (read below), so which couples should we look out for? First of all, we can’t ignore three-time winners Harris English and Matt Kuchar. In terms of ranking, Max Homa and Kevin Kisner should also be among the favorites, although they both finished in the last four in the Bahamas last weekend (Kisner with an ace!). Other teams to watch are Brian Harman/Sepp Straka and Tom Hoge/Sahith Theegala.
Television: Discovery+/GolfTV: Thurs 19:00-22:00, Fri 19:30-22:30, Sat 19:00-22:00, Sun 19:00-23:00
10 Charity, The Match VII, Pelican Golf Club, Belleair, Florida.
The Match, which started in 2018, is already on its seventh edition. This time without American Footballers but with four of the greatest golfers. Under artificial light – it will be a late one for us Dutch – Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will compete against Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas in match play over 12 holes. That is no less than 24 majors in all. He/she who stays up can expect a light and relaxed atmosphere, where the players are again equipped with earphones and the viewer can follow all the conversations. It will be Tiger’s third Match, while his “little brother I never had” Thomas, Spieth and teammate McIlroy make their debut. The aim is to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Ian, which hit Florida last month.
Television: Discovery+/GolfTV: Sat 01:00-05:00
🚨#FIRST LOOK: Tiger Woods custom cart for #TheMatch has arrived 👀
(📸: @GolfDigest) pic.twitter.com/2uBg86LMPD— TWLEGION (@TWlegion) December 5, 2022