Porteous struggling with his game but determined to defend his Joburg Open title

23 February 2017 - 12:18 By Mahlatse Mphahlele
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Haydn Porteous of South Africa ponders after taking a shot during the second round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in the capital of the United Arab Emirates on January 20, 2017.
Haydn Porteous of South Africa ponders after taking a shot during the second round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in the capital of the United Arab Emirates on January 20, 2017.
Image: Nezar BALOUT / AFP

Joburg Open defending champion Haydn Porteous is having issues with his game but he is determined to give it a go in the tournament which tees off at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club’s East and West courses on Thursday morning.

Porteous took his maiden Sunshine Tour and European Tour victory last year with a two-stroke margin over runner-up Zander Lombard but that triumph was followed by a difficult maiden year on the international stage in Europe.

“It’s been a tough six months‚ with the swing changes I have been working on‚” he said this week as he readied for the defence of his title.

“I got a little bit too technical with the golf swing and then lost a bit of confidence on unfamiliar grasses and different golf courses and in different conditions.

"It was tough to play with the sort of confidence I can play with back home.

"It was eye-opening and I knew that last year was going to be a difficult learning experience just to see what it was like to play in Europe.”

He made just three cuts last year after July on the European Tour and made just one on the 2017 season so far but encouragingly that was for a solid share of 26th in the Maybank Championship in Malaysia two weeks ago.

“This year‚ I know what I’ll need to do‚ and hopefully I can build confidence in this new swing that I have invested in and I can put a few decent performances together‚” he said.

He is going to be facing some stiff opposition from South African and European players.

On the home front‚ George Coetzee‚ Dean Burmester and Christiaan Bezuidenhout all appeared to be on the verge of victory in tournaments over the last fortnight.

England’s Graeme Storm‚ who won the BMW SA Open in January and once shot a nine-under-par 62 on the West course‚ is back and he is keen to renew his good relationship with the country and with the courses.

There is also James Morrison of England and Marc Warren of Scotland.

The two have played well enough over the last few weeks on the European Tour to convert that form into victory.

Darren Clarke won the 2011 Open champion‚ Trevor Immelman won the 2008 Masters and YE Yang of South Korea won the 1999 PGA Championship.

They will all be on the field but the biggest challenge to Porteous in his title defence will come from Jaco van Zyl. Van Zyl came very close to winning the Qatar Masters.

“I am feeling a lot more comfortable in contention‚ and I feel like I can be in charge when I am in that position instead of backing off a little bit‚” said Van Zyl.

“I have always said to myself I’ll never regret trying to be a better golfer.

"I think sometimes you can make a bad decision about your swing‚ and swing thoughts‚ when that’s maybe not the problem.

"You’ve just got to learn from these mistakes and use them to become more professional in the way that you do things.

"And‚ over time‚ you start to make better decisions.”

- TMG Digital

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