Tag: Joburg Open

Three players (including a LIV golfer) qualify for 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon

The Open Qualifying Series is off and running with major championship exemptions on the line.

Dean Burmester, Darren Fichardt and Dan Bradbury have all qualified for next year’s 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon via the Joburg Open, the first event in the Open Qualifying Series.

The series offers players from around the world the opportunity to qualify for one of the four men’s majors and is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour.

Burmester, who now plays in the LIV Golf League and finished 14th last season, earned a three-shot win at Houghton Golf Club in Johannesburg, South Africa, at 18 under and will play in his third Open next year. Fichardt last qualified for the Open in 2017 after winning the Joburg Open at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club. He finished runner-up this year at 15 under after a final-round 64. The defending champion Bradbury also shot 64 on Sunday to take the third qualifying spot at 13 under.

Next up in the series is the ISPS Handa Australian Open, Nov. 30-Dec. 3 at The Lakes and The Australian in Sydney. Here are the rest of the events included in the qualifying series and how many Open places are available at each.

2024 Open Qualifying Series events remaining

Event Date Exemptions available
ISPS Handa Australian Open Nov. 30-Dec. 3, 2023 Three places to leading players not already exempt
Arnold Palmer Invitational March 7-10, 2024 One place to leading player not already exempt
RBC Canadian Open May 30-June 2, 2024 Three places to leading players not already exempt
Memorial Tournament June 6-9, 2024 One place to leading player not already exempt
KLM Open June 20-23, 2024 Two places to leading player not already exempt
Regional qualifying June 24, 2024 None
Italian Open June 27-30, 2024 Two places to leading player not already exempt
Final qualifying July 2, 2024 Minimum of 16 places
John Deere Classic July 4-7, 2024 Two places to leading player not already exempt
Genesis Scottish Open July 11-14, 2024 Three places to leading players not already exempt

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DP World Tour debut tournament shortened to 36 holes, Thriston Lawrence captures first win

COVID-19 shortened it first, then heavy rain left the course unplayable.

The DP World Tour, formally known as the European Tour, along with the Sunshine Tour and city of Johannesburg decided on Friday to shorten the Joburg Open to 54-holes in an effort “to help non-South African resident players, caddies, and tournament support staff return to their home countries.”

This move was forced by a new COVID-19 variant spreading through South Africa dubbed “omicron.”

The debut tournament for the DP World Tour suffered weather delays on Thursday and Friday, and the inclement storms continued on Saturday. Due to lightning storms and heavy rain, large parts of Randpark GC were left unplayable.

So after just 36 holes, a champion was crowned.

Thriston Lawrence, who has only played in 21 events on the Euro Tour since 2014, fired back-to-back 65s to win by four shots over Zander Lombard. The 25-year-old South African arrived this week with an affiliate membership to the DP World Tour, but because of his win, now has exemption until 2023.

Thriston Lawrence of South Africa celebrates with the trophy following a 36-hole victory of the JOBURG Open at Randpark Golf Club on November 27, 2021, in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

The next two stops on the original DP World Tour schedule were both slatted to take place in South Africa. Those events, due to the COVID-19 variant, have already been removed from the Tour’s website.

As it stands now, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is the next up, scheduled for January 20-23.

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Discovery of COVID variant in South Africa rocks DP World Tour

The season-opening event will go on, but the next two events were removed from official schedule.

The tour formally known as the European Tour was scheduled to kick off its 2021-22 season with three consecutive events in South Africa. The first round of the DP World Tour’s first event at the Joburg Open was hampered by inclement weather and eventually postponed by lightning.

Friday brought worse news.

Experts with the World Health Organization are meeting to assess a COVID-19 variant in South Africa that has been rapidly spreading among young people and has already spawned numerous mutations, according to a story by USA TODAY.

Several nations, including Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Japan, have responded to news of the variant by moving Friday to restrict air travel from several southern African countries. The European Union, which is made up of 27 nations, is also recommending a ban on flights from southern African countries, despite WHO officials warning against rash decisions.

The Washington Post reports that global financial markets are already reacting, with the Dow Jones industrial average sinking more than 800 points after news of the discovery of a coronavirus variant in South Africa.

The DP World Tour released a statement indicating South Africa has been placed on the travel red list but still plans to forge ahead and complete the Joburg Open as planned on Sunday.

The two events after that have already been dropped from the DP World Tour’s official website. The South African Open Championship, Dec. 2-5, which was co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour, will now just be a Sunshine Tour event. The Alfred Dunhill Championship, which was scheduled for Dec. 9-13, has been canceled altogether, due to, according to the DP World Tour, the adverse effect the travel restrictions will have on the field.

Also in the USA TODAY report: scientists have little information about the variant and its potential for danger right now, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 technical lead, on Thursday.

“What we do know is that this variant has a large number of mutations, and the concern is that when you have so many mutations it can have an impact on how the virus behaves,” said Van Kerkhove.

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European Tour is now the DP World Tour and its new season starts this week in South Africa

The DP World Tour begins its 50th year of existence at the Joburg Open in South Africa on Thursday.

Last season is so last week.

The circuit formally known as the European Tour concluded its season last Sunday when Collin Morikawa became the first American to win both the DP World Tour Championship and the Race to Dubai title.

This week, the new season is here already, and with that, a new name.

Now called the DP World Tour, the circuit kicks off its 50th year of existence at the Joburg Open in South Africa on Thursday. The tour will have 47 tournaments in 27 countries with more than $200 million in prize money up for grabs.

The tour will also feature three tournaments that are co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour: the Genesis Scottish Open, the Barbasol Championship, and the Barracuda Championship—the latter two taking place in the United States—as a result of the “Strategic Alliance” between the tours.

A video posted on Wednesday to promote the new season features appearances by Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Billy Horschel, and even Annika Sorenstam, among others.

In addition to tournament riches, three spots into the 150th Open Championship, to be held at historic St. Andrews July 14-17, 2022, are on the line this week.

The top three who finish in the top 10 and ties at the Joburg Open who are not already exempt will earn a spot. The Joburg is the first event in the Open Qualifying Series.

There are four golfers in the field at the Joburg who are already exempt for St. Andrews: Dean Burmester, Dylan Frittelli, Justin Harding, and Shaun Norris.

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