Nedbank Golf Challenge: Adrian Meronk handed Sun City nod

The penultimate tournament of the DP World Tour season takes place at the Gary Player Country Club this week, with a star-studded field battling it out for the Nedbank Golf Challenge trophy.

What	Nedbank Golf Challenge
Where	Gary Player Country Club, Sun City
When	Thursday 9th November - Sunday 12th November
How to watch	bet365 Live Golf Tracker & Sky Sports Golf
Odds	Tommy Fleetwood 7/1, Max Homa 8/1, Justin Thomas 14/1, Ryan Fox 14/1, Adrian Meronk 16/1

Tommy Fleetwood successfully defended his title last year, holding off New Zealand's Ryan Fox by a stroke, and the Englishman is the 7/1 favourite to become the first player in history to win this trophy three times in a row.

American Max Homa has made the trip to South Africa and he can be backed at 8/1, while his compatriot Justin Thomas is 14/1 to return to the winner's circle for the first time since the 2022 PGA Championship.

Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre, who formed a successful partnership at the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf, are both teeing it up and are priced at 20/1 and 28/1 respectively.

With just the leading 50 players in the Race to Dubai standings qualifying for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates next week, there is plenty at stake for those sitting around the bubble ahead of this South Africa outing.

Each-way terms of a quarter the odds, the first five places are available for the Nedbank Golf Challenge, as well as alternative terms like a fifth the odds, the first eight, and a seventh the odds, the first 10.

Nedbank Golf Challenge course details

The Gary Player Country Club has been the home of the Nedbank Golf Challenge since 1981 and is regarded as South Africa's premier championship test of golf.

Measuring 7,834 yards, this par-72 layout is not for the faint hearted given the length of it and there are 10 par-fours, four par-threes and four par-fives to tackle.

There are only two players in this week's field who have won this event before - Fleetwood (2019 and 2002) and Branden Grace (2017).

One of the most striking features of the course is its complex greens, which allow for creative and testing pin positions on putting surfaces that are well protected by bunkers.

Three to follow

Adrian Meronk

World number 46 Adrian Meronk was, perhaps, unfairly left out of Europe's 2023 Ryder Cup team that ended up defeating the USA, but he has not allowed that to weigh on him and he claimed his second victory of 2023 on his last outing.

The Polish ace clinched the Andalucia Masters to take his DP World Tour title collection to four and he will be refreshed for this challenge after swerving last week's Qatar Masters.

The Gary Player CC is a beast of a course, but Meronk certainly has the ability to manage his way around this layout.

He leads in strokes gained: total, off-the-tee and tee-to-green on the European circuit this season, while he is sixth in greens in regulation, and the 16/1 available on him is appealing.

Jordan Smith

One player who has been knocking on the door for his first win since the 2022 Portugal Masters is Jordan Smith, who heads into this tournament on the back of a fifth-place finish in Qatar and who is 25/1 in the Outright market.

The 30-year-old Englishman took a share of second at the Open de France a few starts before that and it is surely only be a matter of time before he experiences that winning feeling again.

Smith is unrivalled in GIR this season and ranks in the top 10 for SG: total, off-the-tee and tee-to-green, so there is a lot to like about his chances at a course he was 13th at last year.

Sebastian Soderberg

Two Swedish players have won this tournament since its inception in 1981 - Henrik Stenson (2008) and Alex Noren (2016) - but the pair could be joined by compatriot Sebastian Soderberg on that elite list.

The 33-year-old was fifth here last year on his second Nedbank appearance and he showed promising form a couple of starts ago when ending up T19 at the Andalucia Masters.

A crisp striker of the irons and a solid putter, Soderberg looks a juicy price at 80/1 and is worth an each-way look.
 

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.