American Ryder Cup star and 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed will make his debut in the Joburg Open at Houghton Golf Club from 5-8 March as he looks to make a piece of DP World Tour history in South Africa.
Reed has confirmed his place in a strong field for the 18th edition of this Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour co-sanctioned tournament.
The current world number 18 heads to Johannesburg as the leader on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai and also hoping to wrap up a victory on the International Swing, with the Joburg Open the last tournament on this Global Swing.
Should he achieve this, he will become the first American winner of the International Swing since its inception in 2024.
“The Sunshine Tour has been so supportive for my first trip to South Africa. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone in person and teeing it up against the guys in the 2026 Joburg Open. I’ve heard great things about the Houghton Golf Club course, and I know it will be an exciting tournament start to finish,” said Reed.
Reed has already won two of the seven tournaments on the International Swing, and finished tied second in another, and is chasing the $200 000 bonus for the winner of the International Swing as well as exemption into all of the DP World Tour’s exclusive Back 9 Tournaments later this season.
Joining Reed will be South Africa’s Jayden Schaper, a back-to-back winner on the Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour at the end of last year in the Alfred Dunhill Championship and AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, and England’s Andy Sullivan, a former Joburg Open champion.
With the trio of Reed, Schaper and Sullivan, the 2026 Joburg Open will feature the top three players on the current Race to Dubai rankings.
The field also includes a host of former Joburg Open winners in defending champion Callum Hill, as well as Thriston Lawrence, Dan Bradbury, Andy Sullivan, Richard Sterne, Shubhankar Sharma and Darren Fichardt.
South Africa’s Shaun Norris and Jacques Kruyswijk, who finished runner-up in the playoff with Hill last year, are also headed to Johannesburg in March.
It all makes for one of the strongest fields in recent Joburg Open history.
“The Joburg Open is more than a golf tournament. It’s a statement of confidence in our city’s infrastructure, our people, and our ability to welcome the world while unlocking economic opportunities and showcasing Johannesburg as a global city of choice,” said the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Dada Morero.
SUPPLIED.
