SDC Championship

This week, the DP World Tour moves to St. Francis Links in South Africa for the SDC Championship.

Darius Van Driel lost his DP World Tour card last season and had to regain it through Q-School near the end of last year. He was rewarded for his perseverance with his first DPWT victory at the Magical Kenya Open last weekend. Van Driel, an 80/1 pre-tournament price, won by two strokes over Nacho Elvira, one of our tips in last week’s column, and Joe Dean, who also earned his DPWT card through Q-School at the end of 2023 and has been working as a supermarket delivery driver to help fund his travel on the tour. 

 

This week, the DP World Tour travels to South Africa for the first of two events co-sanctioned with that nation’s Sunshine Tour. The first event is the SDC Championship along the Eastern Cape of South Africa at St. Francis Links. 

A pair of South Africans – Thriston Lawrence (16/1) and Zander Lombard (16/1) – head up the odds board this week along with Ewen Ferguson (16/1), who finished T-3 here last year and has two Top 10s over the last three weeks. 

Tom McKibbin (20/1), Antoine Rozner (22/1), who also finished T-3 last year, and Rikuya Hoshino (22/1), the Qatar Masters winner three weeks ago, follow on the board. 

Jordan Smith (25/1), Keita Nakajima (25/1), and Hennie du Plessis (28/1), a South African who finished 2nd on this course for a Sunshine Tour event in 2017, start the mid-range pricing. 

Defending champion Matthew Baldwin (80/1) won this event by seven strokes last year over runner-up Adri Arnaus (100/1). 

The Event

The SDC (Skills Development Corporation – a South African education and training company) Championship began as a co-sanctioned event with both the DP World and Sunshine Tours last year. 

St. Francis Links plays host to the tournament and also hosts South African PGA Championship. 

The Course

St Francis Links is a Jack Nicklaus Signature course set just off the coast of St Francis Bay in one of the southernmost points of South Africa.

The layout is a Par 72 of 7,192 yards with a typical setup of 10 Par 4s and 4 each of the Par 3s and Par 5s. Included on the course are three Par 4s of less than 400 yards and a 533-yard Par 5 13th that provide the best scoring opportunities on the course. 

A full hole-by-hole breakdown can be found here: Jack Nicklaus Signature Course | St Francis Links

Event History

2023: Matthew Baldwin (-18/270); 140/1

Selections

Ewen Ferguson 16/1 BetMGM
Ferguson was 3rd on debut here last year and has two straight Top 10s leading into this week. He is Top 12 on the DP World Tour for both Strokes Gained: Approach and Scrambling and is now a regular fixture near the top of the odds board on the DP World Tour. 

Tom McKibbin 20/1 BetMGM
McKibbin was 4th three weeks ago at the Qatar Masters. 
While he only finished 18th here last year, he fought back from an opening 76 in the bad end of the weather. 

Niklas Norgaard 40/1 Bet365
Norgaard certainly looks to fit the profile that last year’s winner, Matthew Baldwin, had here. He bombs it off the tee (7th for Driving Distance – 329.8 yards; 1st for Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee) and has some links pedigree with a 7th in 2022 Alfred Dunhill Links. 

Nacho Elvira 50/1 DraftKings
Nacho was the co-runner-up last week in Kenya. He was 23rd here on debut last year, but this time, he arrives on much better form, making five of six cuts in 2024; whereas, last year, he had missed four of six cuts and was no better than 40th in any event. 

Ryan Van Velzen 55/1 BetMGM
South African Van Velzen was two off the lead and T-3 going into the final round last week in Kenya but was unable to make a move on Sunday and settled for a T-11 finish. He has won each of the last two seasons on the Sunshine Tour and finished T-3 on this course last year in the South Africa PGA Championship. 

Todd Clements 110/1 DraftKings
Clements won his maiden DP World Tour title last summer at the Czech Masters. While he has yet to seriously contend since, he is showing some signs of form, ranking 2nd for Strokes Gained: Approach and 4th for Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee at the Qatar Masters three weeks ago (finished 24th).

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