Schwartzel - The 'King of Leopard Creek'
It is not for nothing that 2011 Masters winner Charl Schwartzel has been dubbed 'The King of Leopard Creek' as he sets out to capture an historic fifth Alfred Dunhill Championship.
2011 Masters Champion Schwartzel will be attempting to write his own piece of history when he tees off in the first round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.
The 32-year-old South African is bidding to become
only the fourth player to win the same European Tour title on five or more
occasions in the European Tour's season-opening tournament at the stunning layout on the border of the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga.
There are only three players who have done so previously -- Bernhard Langer, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods -- so Schwartzel could join very elite company.
Schwartzel won the Alfred Dunhill Championship in the 2005, 2013, 2014 and 2016 European Tour seasons.
Soft-spoken Schwartzel, who has been dubbed ‘The King of Leopard Creek’, says he just feels more relaxed at the picturesque estate course on the border of the Kruger Park…
Schwartzel says, having cut back on his grueling schedule this year and been more selective about his golfing commitments, he feels he may just be primed to add another Alfred Dunhill Championship to his rich haul.
Referred to by countryman and fellow professional Brandon Stone as ‘one of the three greatest strikers of a golf ball’, he says solid iron play and accuracy around the Leopard Creek layout will always be a player's biggest ally.