Only two players have ever won three tournaments back-to-back on the local golf series, The Sunshine Tour.
Predictably, Gary Player was the first to claim a triple crown, winning the SA Open, SA Masters and SA PGA Champions in 1979. Thirteen years later, also predictably, it was Els’s breakthrough year, claiming the same titles as Player in 1992.
The feat has not been repeated since. This week, 34 years later, newly minted Investec SA Open Champion Casey Javis, who also claimed the Magical Kenya Open two weeks ago, has a chance to rewrite the history books as he tees off at the Joburg Open.
Chance for Jarvis to join some golfing giants
And that’s not even half of it. If Jarvis prevails at the Houghton Golf Club, he will join an exclusive club that includes giants of the game such as Seve Ballesteros and Sir Nick Faldo, who have claimed three successive victories on the DP World Tour. Ballesteros achieved this in 1986 and Faldo in 1983.
Please let this not be a commentator’s curse.
Already guaranteed to play in The Masters and The Open this year, the 22-year-old is now 80th on the Official World Golf Ranking, the highest of his career. He is third on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai Rankings and second on The Courier Guy Order of Merit on the Sunshine Tour. All eyes will be on Jarvis this weekend.
“I’ll definitely go for it. To have my name up there with theirs would be unreal,” he said.
Local favourite Jayden Schaper looks for win
To get there, Jarvis will have to negotiate a strong field that includes Masters champion, American Patrick Reed, who is playing his second back-to-back event in South Africa, after failing to make an impression at last week’s Open.
Local favourite Jayden Schaper is also looking for a win. He finished 29th last week after forcing himself into the weekend when missing the cut looked most likely.
Schaper, who arguably has had a better season on the DP World Tour this season than all the South Africans, won’t surprise anyone if he joins Jarvis at Augusta next month, as the winner this week get’s an automatic exemption to The Masters.
Houghton hosts strong field
Another player to watch is Frenchman Antoine Rozner. Back on the DP World Tour, he’s steadily impressing again after a tough time on the PGA Tour last season.
Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello joins Reed and Rozner on the to-watch list. He has been having a decent season so far. The four-time DP World Tour winner has the pedigree to be on the podium on Sunday.
Of all players in the field, write off Dylan Frittelli at your own peril. He finished 2025 well, coming into 2026 with some momentum, after his 10th finish on his first start of the year at the Dubai Invitational. Frittelli was 2nd after 54 holes.
And don’t let his 54th finish last week at the Investec SA Open fool you. He was 9th after round 1.
And finally, there is the defending champion Scotland’s Calum Hill. In with a chance at Stellenbosch last week, he lacked a strong finish, claiming a tie for 20th.
Hill would like to return to Houghton with a bang. He can, but will he?
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