Dunhill Championship

After a two week taster in Asia, the European Tour now switches to Africa for the next instalment of its international schedule, for the Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek in Mpumalanga. Of all the 46 venues that the Tour will visit during the 2005 campaign, few will be in a setting as beautiful as this, situated as it is on the edge of the world famous Kruger National Park. Maintaining focus in such a breath taking place and in temperatures likely to top 35 degrees will be hard enough, but then there still remains the whole issue of the wildlife. "Harry" the Hippo lies in wait for any lake bound balls on the 16th for example, whilst giraffes, crocodiles and buffalo are regular visitors to the spectator walkways. Most concerningly, there have also been several sightings of a leopard on the course, and so the premium on keeping the ball on the fairway is perhaps even higher than usual!The spectators have been drawn in by the lure of Ernie Els, himself very much a big cat of the golfing world. At number three in the world, and as the winner of the European Order of Merit for the last two years, Els is a draw card anywhere, but in front of his adoring home fans, there is arguably nobody they would rather see on the entry list this week.6/4 is rather a short price for anyone in a full field event however. His second place at the Nedbank Challenge last week was almost achieved by default as players fell away on the final day, and his 71 was enough to climb the leaderboard. There is always a case to be made for El, but at this price, we would really need some compelling course form, and we have found no evidence of any.At 20/1 StanJames we like the look of one of his compatriots, James Kingston. This event is one he has enjoyed before, including last year when coming sixth, even if that was staged at Houghton Golf Club. It is as close a reference point as we have however, and the way he has played in the first two starts if this season, suggest his game is in fine fettle.A second round of 78 undermined his overall prospects at the China Open, but he still came 24th, and this was followed with four rounds of 71, 67, 62 and 67 to finish second at the Omega Hong Kong Open last week. No European titles have gone his way in the past, but he has won professional events in South Africa five times.With this venue being used for the first time, recent form is the key indicator this week, although with only two tournaments having been scheduled this term so far we are also short of evidence using that avenue of resource. To go with Kingston, we have selected another South African, although at just 22 years of age, Louis Oosthuizen is 17 years younger than him. Many regard Oosthuizen as the future of South African golf, and there were certainly signs on the European Tour last term that he has the talent to go a very long way. There were several high finishes during his first full season on Tour, with fourth at the Open de Sevilla the best, and he obviously has great experience of playing in his homeland as a junior, amateur and young professional.Two years ago he came 14th in the South African Airways Open, and the early indications are encouraging for this year. 39th place in Shanghai was greatly improved upon with 12th position in Hong Kong last week, and at a best price of 25/1 StanJames, we feel Oosthuizen merit's a small bet.