The DP World Tour, formally known as the European Tour, along with the Sunshine Tour and city of Johannesburg decided on Friday to shorten the Joburg Open to 54-holes in an effort “to help non-South African resident players, caddies, and tournament support staff return to their home countries.”
This move was forced by a new COVID-19 variant spreading through South Africa dubbed “omicron.”
The debut tournament for the DP World Tour suffered weather delays on Thursday and Friday, and the inclement storms continued on Saturday. Due to lightning storms and heavy rain, large parts of Randpark GC were left unplayable.
So after just 36 holes, a champion was crowned.
Thriston Lawrence, who has only played in 21 events on the Euro Tour since 2014, fired back-to-back 65s to win by four shots over Zander Lombard. The 25-year-old South African arrived this week with an affiliate membership to the DP World Tour, but because of his win, now has exemption until 2023.
Thriston Lawrence of South Africa celebrates with the trophy following a 36-hole victory of the JOBURG Open at Randpark Golf Club on November 27, 2021, in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
The next two stops on the original DP World Tour schedule were both slatted to take place in South Africa. Those events, due to the COVID-19 variant, have already been removed from the Tour’s website.
As it stands now, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is the next up, scheduled for January 20-23.
