Nedbank Golf Challenge betting tips: Tommy Fleetwood primed to fly at Gary Player Country Club
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Published 09/11/2022 at 08:54 GMT
The DP World Tour heads to South Africa for the Nedbank Golf Challenge and Tommy Fleetwood is topping the betting after showing a welcome return to form in recent months. The Englishman says he is reaping the benefits of hard work on his swing, and he is back at a venue he won at in 2019. He is a worthy favourite at the Gary Player Country Club this week.
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Value is key when settling on a selection, and occasionally a favourite can offer value to the punter.
That is the case this week, as Tommy Fleetwood looks primed to strike in the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
Fleetwood is a top-class golfer who rose to a high of nine in the world on the back of hard work. He climbed into the top 10 in 2018 when he won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
At that stage, he looked primed to make the leap to major winner and elite player. It did not happen, and only one further win has come his way in the following four years.
In Fleetwood's own words, he lost his swing and did not trust his game off the tee.
"My long game, especially my driving, irons sort of stayed semi all right, but driving was a big struggle and there was no chance I could compete around the toughest courses with the best players the way I was hitting it,” Fleetwood said.
Such is the quality he possesses, combined with the work ethic, Fleetwood never fell off a cliff as some players have done.
He dropped to 50 in the world earlier this year, but since taking a break in the summer there have been clear signs of improvement.
Fleetwood’s upturn in form started with a tied-fourth at the Scottish Open, and he filled the same position in the Open Championship at St Andrews.
Another tied-fourth came in his most recent outing in the CJ Cup, where he finished with a charge on the final day.
"I feel it is one of the most improved aspects of my game,” Fleetwood said of his driving. "I really struggled with it last year and my scoring and performances were affected because of it.
"This golf course is probably the best example of it. If you struggle off the tee you are going to struggle to compete out here.
"Seeing my driving improving is great, so just keep chipping away at it and there have been times in the last few weeks where I’ve felt I’ve driven it really well. So coming into an event like this and having confidence off the tee is really important.”
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‘I love competing’ - Fleetwood hungry for more success
Those are encouraging words heading to a Gary Player Country Club course that is a major test off the tee.
At 7,819 yards, it is the longest course on the rotation - but being at altitude it is not as intimidating as those numbers sound.
But it is a test off the tee, and one Fleetwood passed with flying colours when emerging victorious in 2019.
With Fleetwood clearly confident on the layout, he has four other top-25 finishes to complement his win in 2019, he looks well set to contend.
What’s more, the 11/1 on offer seems good value given that the opposition looks thin on the ground.
Jordan Smith is second favourite and after getting his second win on the DP World Tour a couple of weeks ago he could easily go on a good run.
But if you take out the in-form Smith, Ryan Fox is the only other player along with Fleetwood who is inside the top 50 in the world.
Thomas Detry arrives in South Africa after some decent results on the PGA Tour in America, but the Belgian faltered in the final round of the World Wide Technology Championship and is still to secure a win as a professional.
Detry has oodles of talent, but if it came down to a head-to-head battle with Fleetwood on Sunday we’d be happy with our position on the latter.
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