But no-one would be too surprised to see the defending Joburg Open champion turn it on again as the tournament tees off on Thursday on Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club’s East and West courses.

Porteous took his maiden Sunshine Tour and European Tour victory last year with a two-stroke margin over runner-up Zander Lombard, and a difficult opening year on the international stage in Europe followed that moment of triumph.

“It’s been a tough six months, with the swing changes I’ve been working on,” he said. “I got a little bit too into the game and maybe a little bit too technical with the golf swing. Then I lost a bit of confidence on unfamiliar grasses and different golf courses and in different conditions. It was tough to play with the sort of confidence I can play with back home. It was eye-opening and I knew that last year was going to be a difficult learning experience just to see what it was like to play in Europe.”

He made just three cuts last year after July on the European Tour, and has made just one on the 2017 season so far – and, encouragingly, that was for a solid share of 26th in the Maybank Championship in Malaysia two weeks ago.

“This year, I know what I’ll need to do, and hopefully I can build confidence in this new swing that I’ve invested in and I can put a few decent performances together,” he said.

He is going to be facing some stiff opposition, both from South African players and those from Europe. On the home front, George Coetzee, Dean Burmester and Christiaan Bezuidenhout have all looked as if they were on the verge of victory in tournaments over the last fortnight. Tiny little pieces of the puzzle need to fall into place for them and they will be tough to stop.

England’s Graeme Storm, who won the BMW SA Open in January is back, and he’s keen to renew his good relationship with the country, and with the courses. He once shot a nine-under-par 62 on the West course. And James Morrison of England and Marc Warren of Scotland have both played well enough over the last few weeks on the European Tour to convert that form into a victory.

In addition, there are three major champions in the field. Darren Clarke won the 2011 Open champion, Trevor Immelman won the 2008 Masters and YE Yang of South Korea won the 1999 PGA Championship.

But perhaps the biggest challenge to Porteous in his title defence will come from Jaco van Zyl, who came so close to winning the Qatar Masters. “I’m feeling a lot more comfortable in contention, and I feel like I can be in charge when I am in that position instead of backing off a little bit,” said Van Zyl.

For Porteous, it may well be that something simpler than a victory will please him mightily. “I have always said to myself I’ll never regret trying to be a better golfer,” he said.
 I think sometimes, you can make a bad decision about your swing, and swing thoughts, when that’s maybe not the problem. You’ve just got to learn from these mistakes and use them to become more professional in the way that you do things. And, over time, you start to make better decisions.”

Maybe winning the Joburg Open isn’t everything.

Sunshine Tour