FOLLOWING a rather quiet performance at the PGA Humana Challenge Tour last week, Zimbabwe’s top golfer and reigning Sportsperson of the Year Brendon De Jonge will be hoping to rediscover his form when he takes to the course at the star-studded Farmers’ Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego on Monday.
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The United States-based golfer finished outside the Top 40 in La Quinta, with American Brian Gay eventually winning the tournament.
But the Harare-born De Jonge will be looking for better fortunes next week in a tournament that will be headlined by golf superstar Phil Mickelson and former world number one Tiger Woods.
The tourney, which has attracted a total of 156 players, will tee off on Monday and runs through to Sunday with the final round.
The list of players also includes past champions Ben Crane, John Daly and Nick Watney, and 22 PGA tour winners from 2012 including Keegan Bradley, Bill Haas and Kyle Stanley.
Other notable players on the committed players list include Jeff Gove, Charley Hoffman, John Mallinger, Pat Perez, and Scott Piercy.
“The Farmers’ Insurance Open has once again assembled an incredibly strong world-class field of leading players and past champions set to compete at Torrey Pines, the most majestic PGA Tour venue,” said Mark Toohey, senior vice-president of Farmers’ Insurance, in an announcement.
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De Jonge, who is 83rd on the official world golf rankings, is still searching for his maiden PGA Tour victory despite enjoying a brilliant 2012 season in which he raked more than $2 million.
The 32-year-old’s top performances last year included an impressive tally of five top 10 finishes and holed a tour-best 425 birdies, while making the cut in 27 of 31 his starts.
His best stretch came late in the season when he finished second at the Justin Timberlake Shriner’s Hospital for Children Classic where he also shot his career-best score, a 62 in the opening round.
He also tied for fourth in consecutive weeks at the McGladrey Classic and the CIMB Classic.
His performances have seen him join the elite group of Zimbabwe’s golfers such as Hall-of-Famer Nick Price, Mark McNulty and Tony Johnstone, who have all made an impression in the golfing world in the past.
