South African Open betting tips: Norris to come out on top in his own backyard?

South African Open: Things to consider 

We are in the middle of the ‘African swing’ and South African Jacques Kruysijk won the first test at Muthaiga in Kenya. 

He played flawless golf over the weekend to finally capture his maiden DP World Tour title and he'll be looking to continue where he left off at this week's South African Open. Kruysijk, with his win, propelled himself up to eighth in the Race to Dubai standings. 

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Across the water in Mexico, our tip Aldrich Potgieter was the unlucky one battling it out in a play-off as he sought but failed to make it two South African winners across the big boy Tours. 

Surprisingly the South African (SA) Open purse is only £1.19m with 3,000 Race to Dubai points on offer. 

The field however is attracting the majority of the DP World Tour stars while many big-name South African players who joined LIV Golf including Branden Grace (33/1 Mr.Play) will also tee it up. The Joburg Open will then round out the golf on African turf. 

South African Open: Top of the betting market 

LIV golfers returning to the DP World Tour this week include South African stalwart Charl Schwartzel and links specialist Branden Grace while defending the South African Open title is native Dean Burmester (10/1 Betway).

Louis Oosthuizen is the big South African name missing from the field. 

Perhaps Durban Country Club is part of the attraction for the bigger names as it hosts the South African Open for the first time since 2010. Interestingly that renewal was won by big Ernie Els and the leaderboard was one of top quality. Els’ total of 25-under par was recorded in benign conditions. 

Durban CC is an old-school links course test with a parkland-type feel to the track. It's a short course playing sub 7,000 yards to a par of 72. Plenty of shot-making skills will be needed to tame the beast, especially if it blows. 

Shaun Norris comes here in good form. He won his second DP World Tour title at the Alfred Dunhill Championship at the back end of 2024. 

He is the top-ranked South African player in the field, lying fifth in the ‘Race to Dubai’ standings, and he opened the 2025 season with sixth and 16th-place finishes in the UAE. Norris is currently second in the Sunshine Tour rankings behind Daniel van Tonder. He also won the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup in December. 

“I've been swinging the club well for a while now and couldn't have asked for a better start to the year. I love Durban CC and it will be difficult and interesting after the changes,” he said. 

Norris reiterates that he really wants to win his national South African Open and feels he can compete with the best players on tour. 

Homeland heroes?

If we are profiling players for the South African Open at Durban Country Club, Tim Clark won two of the three most recent editions of this golf tournament here. Ernie Els won in 2010. Charl Schwartzel and James Kingston featured on all three of these leaderboards, while Retief Goosen also featured strongly. 

John Parry 25/1 (Mr.Play) is an interesting name amongst the South African Open odds leaders this week having won in late 2024 in Mauritius and notched a second place in Kenya last time out. Parry played in the 2010 South African Open at Durban CC shooting a total of 18-under par. 

The cream rises to the top at Durban CC and accurate, plotter types tend to do well. The scoring disparity between the 2002 and 2005 African Open editions vs the 2010 tournament (25-under par winning score) is a reflection of the wind and weather conditions and there have been some significant changes implemented since then at Durban CC. 

Schwartzel was recently T12 at LIV Golf Adelaide and he finished in the top fifteen followed by a second and a fourth place finish respectively in the last three South African Open renewals at Durban CC. 

Schwartzel is still just 40 years old and the former Masters winner has an outstanding record on home turf. He started the season with a T33 at LIV Golf Riyadh. The former world number six closed out 2024 with two runner-up finishes at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the International Series Qatar. 

Jayden Schaper is just about to hit first gear and he has history in the SA Open. He was tied for first after 54 holes last year with Ryan van Velzen and the South African prodigy would go on to finish tied for fifth after a poor final round of 74. 

Schaper comes into the South African Open 2025 with successive top five finishes under his belt in Qatar and Kenya. Schaper is yet to win but could this be his time? 

Danny van Tonder has just gone back-to-back at two co-sanctioned Sunshine Tour and Challenge Tour events, winning the SDC Open and the MyGolfLife Open. 

He has kept the form going with top 10s at the NTT Data Pro-Am and the Cape Town Open. Danny was second before that at the Mediclinic Invitational and currently leads the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit rankings.

FIRST’s top tip for the South African Open 

Double DP World Tour winner Sean Norris is on a mission to bag his home South African Open. Back him for glory each way (seven places) with Betway at 33/1. 

Extra tips 

Charl Schwartzel has always been a weapon on home soil. You can bag him at 28/1 with Mr.Play. South African prodigy Jayden Schaper is looking to go big or go home. Get him onside at 28/1 (seven places) with Betway. 

Danny van Tonder knows how to win and he will be looking for three wins in his last five. He’s 33/1 each way (six places) with BetMGM. 

South African Open: Value bets 

Branden Grace (33/1 Mr.Play) must be respected especially as he grew up on the links at Fancourt and he is one of the finest links and bad weather exponents in the game. 

However, Grace hasn't been in the limelight much of late, unable to make an impression at LIV since his early win in Portland. In fact, Grace was relegated and re-signed for 2025. 

"We’re thrilled to have Branden back with Stinger GC, he is an integral part of our team, both on and off the course. While 2024 was a tough year for him, we must not overlook his consistent performances in the two previous seasons”, said Stinger GC team captain Louis Oosthuizen. 

Instead, we will look at two bigger prices and Casey Jarvis is another up and coming prodigy on the South African golf scene. 

After a slow start to the season, he is showing progressive form of 66-32-20. He also got progressively better over his four rounds in last week's Kenya Open, closing with a 67. 

Jarvis has won on the Challenge Tour at the Euram Bank Open so if he gets a sniff here the feisty competitor won't shy away. 

Ryan van Velzen was second in the Alfred Dunhill Championship a few months ago. Van Velzen won the 2024 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit with two victories in tow. ‘RVV’ was also second to Burmester in the 2023/24 SA Open where was joint leader with Jayden Schaper after 54 holes. 

The young South African warmed up nicely in Kenya with a T11 finish and looks overpriced this week. 

FIRST’s top value tips for the South African Open

Casey Jarvis is one of a stable of young South Africans tipped to do big things in the game. Back him at 50/1 (six places) with BetMGM. 

South African Ryan van Velzen has been priced up nicely this week if you’re a punter. Back the 23-year-old at a whopping 150/1 (six places) each way with BetMGM. Back him for a top 20 at 5/1.

Odds correct at the time of writing.