Schwartzel brims with confidence

13 December 2012 - 02:09 By Johannes Myburgh
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Charl Schwartzel gets his 2012 Nedbank Golf Challenge campaign off to a dusty start at Sun City yesterday, where two rookies - Bill Haas and Nicolas Colsaerts - took a one-shot first-round lead
Charl Schwartzel gets his 2012 Nedbank Golf Challenge campaign off to a dusty start at Sun City yesterday, where two rookies - Bill Haas and Nicolas Colsaerts - took a one-shot first-round lead
Image: SYDNEY SESHIBEDI

CHARL Schwartzel returns determined for a second win at the Alfred Dunhill Championship starting today, on the wave of his win at the Thai Championship at the weekend.

The 28-year-old tees off at Leopard Creek on the southern border of the Kruger Park, having won in 2005 and finishing second four times afterwards, including last year.

He'll start with confidence, having won by 11 strokes in Chonburi on Sunday - the biggest margin of any tournament in the world this year.

At the end of a 20-month spell without a title since he won the Masters in 2010, the Johannesburg native couldn't resist returning to a course deemed one of the world's most beautiful.

"I'm looking forward to this week. I am tired but it's just such a nice place that I couldn't pull out," he said, back on top of his game after a year of injuries and poor form.

But he'll face tough competition in countryman Garth Mulroy, who is determined to defend his title at the second European Tour event of the 2013 season.

Louis Oosthuizen is another to watch, having finished among the top six in his last four European Tour tournaments.

The 30-year-old was runner-up at the Singapore Open in November and hungers for a trophy to add to his 2010 British Open title.

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