The event is also an officially qualifier for the 150th Open Championship at the home of golf, St Andrews, in Scotland.

All eyes will be on Dean Burmester after he finished sixth in Dubai last week at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

For another Bloemfontein, Wilco Nienaber, he wants to go one better after finishing as the runner-up last season.

Nienaber who hit a monster 401 metre drive last season feels the course suites him.

“Finishing second here, it sucked,” the Bloemfonteiner said about his runners-up finish last season.

“Finishing second was not ideal. I had a lot of phone calls saying that finishing second was the best thing that could have happened.

“If it didn’t come from the people it came from, I thought that would have been a dumb comment to make.

“I took that to heart, and the rest of the season I learnt a lot as well. That just basically started it off.

“I can play to my advantage here. I can use a driver on most holes unlike some golf courses where I’m limited.

“Just being patient and waiting until it’s my time. I don’t think there’s any way of putting it differently for myself that makes me feel better.

“It’s a new season, a new tournament, a new start. Today was a little rusty because I took two weeks off after a really long season. I just have to be patient and a win will happen.”

The Joburg Open is the first of three European Tour events in South Africa.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport