DPWT Alfred Dunhill Championship 2025 — Golf Picks, Tips & Analysis

Already a winner on the DPWT in 2025 when he led over all 4 days to secure the Omega European Masters in which several who finished behind him then went on to win in 2025 such as Sami Valimaki, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Rasmus Petersen Neergard & Marco Penge.

This is his 2^nd home event after competing in last weeks Nedbank Golf Challenge where he finished in T33 despite having only 1 x SG Metric inside the Top 20 which came from his driver Off the Tee.

TL did however keep to par scoring-

• 14^th in par scoring
• 19^th in par 4 scoring
• 27^th in birdies with 3.50 birdies per round

He can be the improver in this line up as his general strokes gained play will suit this tighter course, similar to Crans-Sur-Sierre when he won at the end of August & also like when he placed 3^rd in October @ Dehli GC, India.

• 12 of his last 17 events in positive SG: OTT
• 11 of his last 17 events in + SG: APG

Despite TL being only ranked 41^st in SG: PUT last week @ Nedbank he generally is reliable with his putter which we have seen numerous times at other events in 2025.

He can bring his local knowledge into this week & had been playing very solid golf in many PGA events earlier in 2025.

Even though this event is being held at a different course as a one off only in 2025 this Englishman has very good form at this event and at this time of year.

In the lead up events DB has-

• T7 @ KLM Open
• T3 @ Italian Open

After both of those events he did miss 5 straight cuts from early July to Late August when he rebounded with a T19 @ Betfred Masters.

He will be aiming for 8 straight cuts and last week in South Africa he went very close to winning with his T2 with one of the better performances on Day 4 with his 66.

• +5.99 strokes gained in the field on Day 4

All 4 days of play he carded consistent rounds of 69, 70, 67 & 66 and all 4 days he was in positives SG overall.

A noted Iron player he will bring 8 straight events also in +SG: APG which I think it & around the greens will be the distinct advantage here on the parklands course.

He can back up the solid result from last week where he was ranked-

• 1^st in SG: APG with +2.05 strokes gained on Avg each round
• 1^st in SG: T2G with +3.67 strokes gained on Avg each round
• 1^st in par 5 scoring
• 2^nd in par 3 scoring
• 2^nd in stroke average (68)

I like his Iron play but he was still impressive with his Driving play which was well rounded-

• 3^rd in SG: OTT
• 5^th in Driving Accuracy @ 69.64% of fairways found (I am happy with near 70%)

If I am comparing him to another player that finished with him on T2 in local Jayden Schaper he is $12.5 on betfair yet we are getting nearly 3 x with DB around $36.

Also, DB is not looking for his first win on this tour already having Won x 2.

This lesser-known Finnish player than Sami Valimaki has been threatening for most of 2025 and I followed him in earlier events in 2025 and he brings-

• 9 x Top 20 results from his last 25
• 4 x Top 10 results in those last 25 events

His strongest skill is usually his Putter, so it surprises me that in his last 3 events he has lost strokes as his previous 9 straight were all in +SG: PUT.

OL has been back on my radar since his T17th @ Omega Masters won by Thriston Lawrence & he backed that result up improving to-

• T7 @ DPWT Amgen Irish Open
• T13 @ BMW PGA Championships

Whilst watching him in Spain in mid-October the commentators mentioned he had been nursing a wrist injury that according to them was on the mend as he was interviewed at an earlier event but he can lean on his usually very slick IRON play-

• 10 straight events all in Positive Strokes gained APG
• 14 of his last 15 in +SG: APG
• 11 of his last 15 in +SG: Total
• 9 of his last 12 in SG: PUT- I mentioned above his last 3 events in -SG which is rare

On a tight parklands course where others might be struggling to position their 1^st shot on the green, I am expecting OL to pick up shots on the field and get back to converting those with his putter.

The back up this week is a Top 10 result to cover the play.

Another Englishman in our roster this week in South Africa and the usually hot & cold MA seems to have put that in the rear-view mirror as in South Africa he is shooting for his 8 straight finish.

Another player that is usually reliable on APG & ARG & even though he finished in T21 last week in South Africa he did not look comfortable and did miss a few putts each day by no more than 2 inches so he possibly could have finished in the Top 10 had he converted only 50% of those putts.

His -4 over the 4 days may have frustrated him as on day 1 he did card a 66 & if compared to early 18 hole leader & overall winner, Kristoffer Reitan we know Kristoff already in 2025 has 6 days where he has shot in the low 60s.

MA on the other hand can be known to start quick and fade.

This week however I hope his last week effort means he has slight improvement as he will not struggle on approach to the green nor around the green, it will all be about his Putter.

• 6^th to Dan Bradbury last week in SG: APG
• 21^st in SG: T2G
• 6^th in par 4 scoring
• 21^st in Driving accuracy OTT with 60.71% so there was a big differential to 70%
• 25^th in SG: PUT (still positives)

As I know his strengths lay with his Irons, if he can run hot early he may be able to sit in the Top 10 before moving day (day 3) and convert some opportunities on the green as it will be an advantage to play good approach shots and sink some birdies, some of the sharper players off the tee also lack the better greens play.

At the current Win price around $70 I think that is very fair to expectations as he has been starting between $35 to $45 in recent events.

All 4 days are expecting rain to what degree we will see but he does have proven form around Links courses as well to serve him well on this parklands course.

Before we launch into the Analysis, CH is more noted as one of the better putters on tour in Europe and with 4 days of rain expected reading greens will be the edge as the greens around Johannesburg have varying degrees of undulation left to right & even the opposite right to left so reading where they are breaking is 2^nd nature to this Scotsman.

He will not mind the rain either.

Last week in South Africa he only finished T40 but he did end up 7^th in SG: PUT to now put-

• 6 straight events in positive strokes in SG: PUT
• 9 of his last 10 in + SG: PUT the miss was -0.005 @ FedEx Open in France

It is not uncommon for CH to pick up between +2.5 to +3.5 strokes on the field at any event & the trade off is he generally will lose between -1.00 to -1.50 strokes Off the Tee.

I added Hill back into my 50-player rotation after keeping an eye on him throughout the year and he went T9 in Spain where he actually had a +SG: Total.

He was CUT the following event in India which is a tight course like this is and why I included him here the fairways are much more forgiving that the Delhi GC and his accuracy has been a pass most times.

His putting maybe the difference this week as I was tuned into both the DPWT Abu Dhabi & the DPWT Tour Championships.

Both courses had big fairways and even Yas Links @ Abu Dhabi even I could have found the huge greens, but it is the grand final of DP like the PGA Tour championships and I could not fault Hill in some elite company finish-

• T17 with his -17
• 4 days of solid consistent rounds in 67, 69, 68, 67
• 1^st in SG: PUT over 4 rounds with +2.42 SG per round

His Putting is good, if you compare CH to a player like Tommy Fleetwood who is not an elite putter but was beaten in the playoff of this event only had +1.38 SG per round.

If this Scotsman can clean up his passable approach play and find them closer to the pin he should have a field day on the greens. I think as long as he can find 60 to 65% of fairways he can remain in the hunt.

The rain will bring him in even more as the greens will slow down & most better putters can adjust more quickly in reading how they are playing.

Currently around $100 on betfair, I would expect +$120 to Win & around $11 to top 10.

CH was also the winner of the 2025 Joburg Open not @ this course but at another in Johannesburg.

JK is the first of our 3 roughies & no stranger to finding his way into our selections.

This local player has now won x 2 in 2025 with his breakthrough win on DPWT @ Kenya Open in late February (if you want to hunger & emotions watch the replay on YouTube) he did back that result up with 2 x 2nds in his next 3 events (all in march).

He did however lose traction and missed 4 cuts straight in May & June before finding form again with-

• T19 @ BMW International Open with -11

That was a short sharp run as he resulted in 3 straight events, and we were able to select him when a strong T4 @ Barracuda won by Ryan Gerard.

Of note in that PGA event, he did finish +2.25 SG total each day. The event is based on the modified Stableford format but he scored-

• T3 with 2 Eagles
• 16 x brides
• 4^th in pars with 49 pars
• T3 in Bogeys with only 5 over 72 holes
• This week he is shooting for his 11^th straight event finish and we want as many as we can get into Day 3, he also did win a local event on the Sunshine Tour which is based in South Africa which was at the end of September-
• 1^st @ Vodacom Origins of Golf in a Playoff over George Coetzee (winner of 13 & 5 on DPWT)

On those 3 days only he carded days of 68, 62 & 73 the last day was rain interrupted.

Normally pretty slick with his putter it is worth noting that his last 3 events all on DPWT he has lost strokes with the long stick. He did still sit high up last week in South Africa in-

• 4^th in SG: APG with +1.40 strokes gained per round
• 12^th in GIR with 70.83%
• 20^th in SG: T2G still finding +0.99 strokes gained against the field average.

I know the player he is and if he starts with them & not give away a start his local knowledge will only assist.

He was $130 on betfair yesterday and that is a fair price, I would not want to be taking unders but so far in 2025 he already has 8 Top 20s including the 2 x 1sts amongst 18 events when he has made it past 36 holes of play.

This week the Danish players is nice & fresh as he last played @ DP World India event in mid-October when Cut.

His previous form warrants an investment as he is often up vying for the top around holes 18 to 36 before fading late. Many probably do not know much or follow this Danish player but unlike a few in this he was a winner on tour when 1^st @ 2021 Mallorca Open.

Of importance he did card 2 days back-to-back of 62, 62 which is very hard to do for most golfers.

• So far in 2025 his best finish was a 4^th @ Austrian Open in Early June with a respectable -14 and note-
• Day 2 @ 64 & Day 3 @ 62

Why that is worth noting as Kristoffer Reitan shot a 60 on Day 4, he has also shot more low scores than any player this year in Europe including 5 of the Top 10 in OWGR.

JW can play and why he has crept into our player rotation this week as he has 3 straight events where he has near 3 SG: Totals in positives territory.

I liked what he did in Spain for his 22^nd & then was Cut in India in his last game in mid-October, again he still has 3 positives events of Putting & even in India he has +2.94 strokes gained just in SG: PUT. Looking into why he did not go beyond 36 holes is-

• -5.36 strokes lost in SG: APG
• -1.75 strokes lost in SG: ARG

This is usually NOT the case and in India it is worth noting that near 50% of the field he meets here this week also did not make the cut into day 3.

He is our instinctive play as we know he can shoot low, yes, he needs to manage all metrics of the game, but I prefer a fresh player over one that has missed 4 or 5 straight cuts.

Currently on betfair around $260 he was also $330 yesterday so his fair price would be between $300 to $400 based on form not what we know he could shoot if in the right mood.

You could just play Top 20 markets, but this event has been known to produce a roughie or two.

Our last player and this local has good form around Royal Johannesburg that goes back as recently as the Sunshine tour event in Late May, The Waterfall City Tournament.

• 7^th @ The Waterfall City @ Royal Johannesburg GC

Not many Golfing Analysts would include him this week as you can get matched around $400 on betfair but he is now on most radars with his very pleasing effort @ Royal Melbourne last week when 4^th.

We will look at how well he went soon but Hollick was a regular sparring partner of Branden Grace when both were Amateurs, Grace who is now playing over on LIV but if we compare both players there is light years separating the two based on records.

Grace has now won 14 events in total with-

• 2 x PGA
• 9 x DPWT
• 1 x LIV
• 2 x Sunshine tour

MH who always had the better of Grace between 2011 to 2017 has only won 4 which were all on the Sunshine Tour, this is under the Challenge tour which is the main feeder organization to the DPWT like the KFT is to the PGA.

2 of those 4 x 1sts did come in 2025.

For the record Hollick did win the International Amateurs in South Korea, so he was actually ranked #1 in the World albeit more than 10 years ago, he has also in his Pro career had the distinct gratification of-

• 2 x Hole in Ones

For most players this will never happen so he had a distinguished amateur record so what happened? Read his story in the Golf Mag it is a good read.

So last week not many knew who this player was that was leaping players on Day 4 at the tricky Royal Melbourne.

• Day 4 the best finishing round in 65
• 1^st in par 3 scoring
• 1^st in Driving Accuracy with a CRAZY 91.67%
• 44% of GIR (the greens were some of the most difficult anywhere)
• 1^st in SG: ARG

Now a stat that should gain more feature in any summary by an Analyst is Bogey Avoidance, he was ranked in 8^th over 72 holes.

Yes, last week when he carded a career best -12 could be an Anomaly, the golfing world is full of them but he knows how to play Royal Johannesburg GC and we love momentum players.

If he starts full of confidence and the world now waking up to who he is, if handles the new media attention it will be interesting to see how far his story will carry on.

At his odds though I am happy investing 1 unit to find out. One thing that really stands out for me is how hard last weeks course was, this week is too, he knows this weeks course unlike last week.

Finally, $8 on betfair to Top 20 is not fair odds, he should be between $15 to $20.