The European Tour bursts back into action as early as the first week in January at The Africa Open for the opening event of the 2012 Race to Dubai, and we are here to give you the rundown on just what it will take to win over the East London GC in 2012.
It will be only the third staging of this event as part of The European Tour International Schedule, but there are already some clear themes emerging that could give a clue as to who might contend this year.
Firstly, it seems to be very advantageous to be South African when playing in this event, as both of the winners have been home heroes in the shape of Charl Schwartzel in 2010 and Louis Oosthuizen last year.
On this theme, 14 of the 25 players in or tied for the top ten in the past two seasons have been South African, with the next best nation – England – posting a distant four in comparison.
When you delve a little deeper into the Genworth Statistics you begin to see two very different themes emerging. The first is that in 2010 it was a putting contest, compared with 2011 where accuracy was everything for those atop the leaderboard.
In 2010 five of the top seven ranked within the top eight in the putts per round category, and three of that group were also in the top eight in putts per green in regulation. However, this did not include Schwartzel who ranked 38th and 21st in these categories respectively.
The antithesis of this came the following year, whereby it was all about accuracy from the tee and into the greens with four of the top six ranking inside the top 15 in driving accuracy, and five of the top nine lying within the top 11 in greens in regulation for the week. There also seemed to be a premium on length from the tee with three of the top six in 2011 ranking inside the top eight in driving distance.
The finest example of this was Steven O’Hara, who tied for fourth place, thanks mainly to a superbly accurate display that saw him finish fifth in GIR, third in distance and eighth in accuracy from the tee.
One explanation for this is the weather leading up to the event in each of these years, and the affect it had on the way the course was set up.
In 2010 it had been a very dry period leading up to the tournament meaning the ball was running hard and fast, the rough was less penal and it was all about who holed the most putts. However last year there had been a lot of rain in the run up to the event, and as a result the rough was a lot more dense and there was a much greater premium on accuracy.
With that in mind these numbers would suggest that if it is wet, as it was in 2011, then you can expect to see the longest and straightest hitters atop the standings come Sunday. But if it is dry, like in 2010, then it will be the people who hole the most putts that will shine come the end of the play.
