New DP World Tour era begins in Joburg

The new era of the DP World Tour begins this week at the Joburg Open, where qualifying places for The 150th Open will also be up for grabs.

This week’s event on the Firethorn Course at Randpark is the first of the new DP World Tour season, co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour, with Dean Burmester arriving as home favourite after winning on both tours during an impressive 2021 campaign.

Burmester won the South African PGA Championship earlier this month and arrives back in Johannesburg off the back of a tied-sixth finish at the DP World Tour Championship last week, with the world No 76 looking to enjoy further success on home soil.

“I never enter an event if I don’t think I can win it,” Burmester said. “It has been a fantastic year and hopefully it can continue and I can keep showing this kind of form.

“I’m working hard because I just want to give my family a great life thanks to this career in golf that I have. If I can show any of the form I’m showing now, then hopefully I can contend in not just one event, but hopefully a couple of them.”

Burmester is one of only four players in the field already assured a place at The Open next July, with compatriots Dylan Frittelli, Justin Harding and Shaun Norris already exempt to tee it up at St Andrews.

This week’s event is the first in The Open Qualifying Series, meaning the leading three players who finish in the top 10 and ties this week – not already exempt – will earn place for the final men’s major of the year.

The remaining events that will make up the 2022 Open Qualifying Series will be confirmed in the coming weeks, with a minimum of 46 places to be available via those tournaments. The Joburg Open is the first of three consecutive South African-based events to start the DP World Tour season.

Watch the Joburg Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 10am on Sky Sports Golf and 11.30am on Sky Sports Main Event.