Alfred Dunhill Championship winner Shaun Norris has set his sights on the Investec South African Open at the Durban Country Club later this month.
The Pretoria golfer Norris dramatically recovered 13 positions in the final round to win the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek in mid-December.
This year Norris has retained this sparkling form in two back-to-back United Arab Emirates tournaments late last month.
These performances ensured that he is the highest-ranked South African with a credible fourth place on the Race to Dubai standings.
His performance at the SA Open could help him reclaim the No. 1 ranking spot on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy. Boksburg golfer Danie van Tonder, the 2021 SA Open winner, is the current leader.
The SA Open, a tournament organized by the DP World Tour, in collaboration with the Sunshine Tour, is golf's second oldest national Open after The Open, the world's most prestigious event.
Starting 27th February, the 2025 edition will be the 114th SA Open Championship and offers $1.5 million (R27,663,150.00) in prize money.
Norris will be joined in the 2025 field by the two previous champions, fellow South Africans Thriston Lawrence (2022 champion) and Dean Burmester (2023).
By winning the event, Norris will follow in the footsteps of golf legends like Bobby Locke, Gary Player (a record 13 wins), Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Louis Oosthuizen, all previous SA Open winners.
For the first time since the centenary 2010 SA Open, the celebrated Durban Country Club will host the event.
Notably, Durban has hosted the SA Open 17 times, more than any other club in South Africa.
Norris is feeling good about landing a maiden SA Open title.
“I’ve been swinging the club very well for a while now and couldn’t have asked for a better start to the year,” said Norris.
“This is the tournament that any South African golfer wants to win. It’s our national Open. My two DP World Tour wins prove my golf is good enough to compete with all the players on the DP World Tour.
“So with my game feeling as good as it is at the moment, I’m going to go for a win in Durban.”
“It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, to win any national Open is massive.
“I love Durban Country Club, and it will be an interesting and different challenge now that they’ve made some changes."
Sunshine Tour commissioner Thomas Abt said the SA Open is special for South Africans.
“For any South African professional, it’s considered one of their 'Majors' because they all want to win their home Open," said Abt.
“The SA Open is a wonderful opportunity to showcase our best GolfRSA amateur talent on an international stage, and our leading amateurs are invited to compete.
"Investec has been an incredible partner in helping us to elevate the status of the South African Open. It’s a week in which we are blessed to be able to showcase on a global stage."