Sharvin, Caldwell and Maguire seek success in the sun
Jonny Caldwell
Jonny Caldwell and Cormac Sharvin are hoping to hit the ground running as they tee it up in the first European Tour event of the new season at Leopard Creek today.
Qualifying School graduate Caldwell (35) plays in the $1.5 million Alfred Dunhill Championship for the first time since 2010 and he's keeping his fingers crossed than an early tee time might prove key as 40 C temperatures have prompted the tour to allow players to wear shorts all week.
"It's scorching here so to be first out before it gets really hot is great," said the Co Down man, who was scheduled to tee off in the first group at 6:20 am.
"There have been a few changes to the course since I played it 2009 and 2010 but I'm feeling good and really excited to get going.
"It would help to be hitting it a little longer, but you also need to be in fairways to score. That should help me as greens are firm.”
Sharvin is excited about moving up to the next level, he has no plans to change the formula that earned him promotion from the Challenge Tour.
"It's basically about me dictating how I play, not the tour I play on dictating how I play," he said before making the trip to what is a spectacular venue teeming with wildlife on the banks of the Crocodile River.
"It's about not getting too uptight about the fact that I am now playing on the European Tour. I just have to take every week like I have done the past year and hopefully have another good year."
While world No 47 Eddie Pepperell is the highest ranked player in the field, four-time Alfred Dunhill Championship winner Charl Schwartzel returns to action for the first time since April to test his recovery from a wrist injury.
“If I was ever going to make comeback, this was going to the best place for me to start,” the 2011 Masters champion said.
“I’m not 100 percent as I would want it to be, but I had a few good weeks practicing in America, so I thought I’d come down. For me, just to be able to play and walk the fairways and compete – that will be a win.”
Meanwhile, Leona Maguire will bring the curtain down on a successful 2019 when she tees it up in the Ladies European Tour’s €300,000 Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de Espana in Marbella.
The Co Cavan star, who turns 25 on Saturday, hasn’t played since she graduated to the LPGA Tour from the Symetra Tour seven weeks ago.
She will have her on on the €45,000 op prize in an event which will see its prize fund doubled to €600,000 next year.
The LET Order of Merit will be renamed the ‘Race to Costa del Sol’ in 2020 with an additional bonus pool of €250,000 split between the top three finishers.
Maguire tied for 18th at Aloha last year, 14 strokes behind the Netherlands’ Anne Van Dam, who defends this week.
