It is a huge fortnight for South African golfers, who get the unique opportunity to play an Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek and then an SA Open at Sun City. These two famous courses, both designed by Gary Player, are surely the two most beloved venues in the Rainbow Nation, with Fancourt, Glendower and a handful of others fighting for third place at a distance. Having these events at these courses, back-to-back, is unprecedented.

For some, a desire to make the most of this rare gift might be suffocating, but BRANDON STONE is among the most positive and grounded players in the sport, not just the country, and he has to have a massive chance of winning his second title here at Leopard Creek and fourth on the European Tour.

Last week, Stone returned from a month away to finish fourth at Randpark and it was a performance of great encouragement. Nobody in the field was better from tee-to-green and it was only a quiet week on and around them, plus a mad half-hour in the first round, which cost him the chance to put real pressure on Wilco Nienaber and JB Hansen.

The latter was superb on Sunday, but the match play feel of his head-to-head with Nienaber must surely have helped, and had Stone been a couple closer going into the final round, I suspect he could've forced both into errors far earlier than they eventually came. These ifs, buts and maybes take nothing away from a brave performance from the Dane and a significant one from Nienaber, of course, but the message is Stone played well enough to win.

Perhaps there was a little rust in round one as he carelessly gave away three shots in no time at all, but from there he was outstanding, particularly in a near-flawless third round which saw him climb from mid-leaderboard mediocrity right into the final group. That's another little bonus, having had a competitive sharpener and got the juices flowing while knowing there's plenty left in the tank.