South African Open

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3-0; +8.00pts  (system plays: 5-1-0) 

Round 1 play (4pts):

Anthony Wall to beat Alex Haindl -139 @ Unibet  WON by 3
Expecting a let-down for Haindl after last week when he was 2nd at the cut, but shot 72-73 to fall out of contention over the weekend. Wall did miss the cut last week by a shot, but it was his first event since finishing in the top-10 six weeks previusly so some Tour rustiness was to be expected. This week should see a return to his former form and hopefully the form that he has displayed in South Africa - in his previous seven starts in this country, he had recorded one win and two other top-5 finishes.

[unofficial rd1 system play: Oostuizen tb Howell -167 (W)]

Round 2 play (2pts):

Ernie Els to beat Retief Goosen -120 @ 5Dimes  WON by 3
Opposing Goosen who leads the event with Alex Cejka, but he is only there because he is ranked 1st in sand saves, putts per green in regulation and putts per round; he ranks 32nd in driving distance, 86th in driving accuracy and 45th in greens in regulation so his all-round game is clearly worthy of leading this event unlike Els who is 3rd and one shot back and in the top-15 for all of those last three stats categories after day one. Add in Els' 11-3-1 h2h record against Goosen in South Africa and the fact that he does not have the pressure of leading the event and would appear that Els is the player most likely to be leading the event at the end of Saturday's play.

Round 3 play (2pts):

Tim Clark to beat John Parry -163 @ Stan James  WON by 2
Similar to yesterday's play - the opponent's game stats have been relatively poor this week with none of the main stats categories showing Parry in the top-25. As such, his current 7th place finish is largely due to his two eagles in two days on the 8th hole - he ranks 1st in eagles and par-5 scoring this week. Clark's game has been much better this week as it has been in previous weeks - he comes off a 2nd place finish in the Nedbank Golf Challenge' Parry's best finish in the last seven weeks has been 49th. With an early start and a 36-hole Sunday ahead, I'll back the two-time winner of the South African Open against a player who may be concerned about getting home for Christmas given the current weather conditions in the U.K.

[unofficial rd3 system plays: Schwartzel tb Oosthuizen -130 (L); Goosen tb Oosthuizen -150 (W); Els tb Schwartzel -120 (W); Wattel tb Dixon -145 (W); Cejka tb Grace -116 (W)]