Steve Palmer's free predictions and golf betting tips for the Alfred Dunhill Championship

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When to bet on the Alfred Dunhill Championship

By 4.20am on Thursday

Where can I watch the Alfred Dunhill Championship

Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Golf from 10am on Thursday

Steve Palmer's Alfred Dunhill Championship predictions

Brandon Stone
4pts each-way 28-1 Paddy Power

Laurie Canter
3.5pts each-way 22-1 bet365

Jayden Schaper
3pts each-way 30-1 bet365

Casey Jarvis
1.5pts each-way 70-1 Betfair, Paddy Power

Yurav Premlall
1pt each-way 100-1 BoyleSports, Coral, Ladbrokes

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Steve Palmer's Alfred Dunhill Championship preview

Louis Oosthuizen is defending his Alfred Dunhill title this week, while his friend Charl Schwartzel is seeking a fifth victory at Leopard Creek. Both of these legends of South African golf will prove popular selections, but Oosthuizen is an injury-plagued and often lacklustre 42-year-old, while all of Schwartzel's Dunhill triumphs came prior to the 2017 course changes.

LIV players dominate the betting, with Dean Burmester also being shown huge respect, but the slugger has a dismal Leopard Creek record. Christiaan Bezuidenhout has not won for four years and has become unreliable in contention, while Thriston Lawrence also seems a short price given his focus has inevitably switched to a 2025 PGA Tour rookie campaign.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Brandon Stone 28-1

A resurgent Brandon Stone can claim a fourth DP World Tour title on Sunday. His maiden success came in 2016 – in the South African Open – before he romped to a six-shot victory in the Dunhill at Leopard Creek later that year.

Stone was looking like one of the best young players in the world, underlining his promise when winning a Rolex Series event in 2018, closing with a round of 60 for a four-shot triumph in the Scottish Open. He finished 12th in the US PGA a month later.

By 2022, though, Stone had lost his form and confidence, demoted to the Challenge Tour at the start of last year. After much soul-searching, he worked his socks off, got his DPWT card back, and has been playing superbly in recent weeks.

All of Stone's last five tournaments have yielded a top-20 finish. Tenth place in the French Open two months ago was followed by ninth in the Genesis Championship, 19th in high-class company in Abu Dhabi, then 18th in the Nedbank Challenge on Sunday. The Nedbank effort was particularly eyecatching, as his record at that venue is awful.

Four solid rounds in tough conditions at Gary Player CC provided confirmation that Stone is a polished professional once again. He finished 15th in the 2018 Dunhill after the renovations and is swinging well enough for a second Creek success.

Next best bet

Laurie Canter 22-1

Victory in the 2010 South African Amateur laid a strong foundation for Laurie Canter's career and the Bath man has always enjoyed his trips to this part of the world. He finished 34th on his Dunhill debut in 2015 when ranked outside the world's top 1,000.

Canter's first look at the Leopard Creek redesign came in 2019 when he was still ranked outside the world's top 500 – and he finished 14th. An affection for the layout was further advertised in his last visit in 2022 when he finished third. He was in poor form going into that event, having missed his last three cuts, but he outscored everybody in the field in the final round with a 64.

Canter boosted his bank balance on the LIV circuit before making a strong return to the DPWT, shedding his maiden tag in the European Open in June. He played so well last season that he nearly earned a PGA Tour card through the Race to Dubai Rankings.

A 14th-place finish in the DPWT Championship was followed by 21st in the Nedbank on Sunday. He ended last season with a runner-up finish in the Mauritius Open and can sign off for 2024 by banking another healthy cheque in Africa.

Other selections

Jayden Schaper 30-1
Casey Jarvis 70-1
Yurav Premlall 100-1

Jayden Schaper came close to winning the Dunhill in 2020 when he was a 19-year-old ranked outside the world's top 800. Rounds of 69, 67, 67 were followed by a Sunday 75 which meant second place. He was outside the world's top 2,000 when finishing 42nd on his Dunhill debut in 2019.

Schaper finished 26th and seventh in his two other Dunhill starts and this is an ideal assignment for him. Encouraging form in his last three tournaments hints that he is ready for a breakthrough at the age of 23. A share of 17th place in the Andalucia Masters has been followed by 37th in Abu Dhabi and 17th last week in a high-class Saudi International, where he closed with rounds of 64 and 67.

Casey Jarvis may also be coming of age. One of the best amateurs in the history of South African golf, Jarvis proved he could handle Leopard Creek when winning the 2022 African Amateur there. Back-to-back 67s put him in position to win last year's Dunhill, before a difficult Saturday, but seventh place was another excellent Creek result. At the age of 21, a DPWT breakthrough may be coming.

Jarvis was the 2023 Sunshine Tour Rookie of the Year and he carded a round of 59 during that campaign. He won his first Challenge Tour title in July last year before making a decent start to life as a DPWT rookie, including eighth place at Crans and sixth spot in the Genesis at the end of October.

Yurav Premlall finished runner-up to Jarvis in the 2022 African Amateur at Leopard Creek. Formerly South Africa's No. 1 amateur, the 21-year-old has posted 14 top-20s in his last 18 tournaments, winning a maiden Sunshine Tour event at the end of September. He appears to have settled as a pro and could be a dangerous outsider.

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Course guide for the Alfred Dunhill Championship

• Course Leopard Creek Country Club, Malelane, South Africa
• Prize money €1.5m (€250,000 to the winner)
• Length 7,112 yards
• Par 72 – four par-fives, ten par-fours, four par-threes
• Field 156 The cut Top 65 and ties qualify for round three
• Highest-ranked players in field (world ranking in brackets) Thriston Lawrence (46), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (55), Erik van Rooyen (75), Romain Langasque (79), Matti Schmid (105)
• Course records - 72 holes 264 Charl Schwartzel (2012) 18 holes 61 Thomas Aiken (2008)
• Course winners taking part Darren Fichardt (2001 SA Tour Championship), Hennie Otto (2003 SA Tour Championship), Richard Sterne, Charl Schwartzel (four times), Brandon Stone, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Ockie Strydom, Louis Oosthuizen
• When to bet By 4.20am on Thursday
• When to watch Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Golf from 10am on Thursday
• Time difference South Africa is two hours ahead of the UK and Ireland
• Last week – Nedbank Challenge 1 J Veerman (35-1), T2 M Jordan (50-1), R Langasque (55-1), A Potgieter (90-1), 5 T Olesen (18-1), T6 C Bezuidenhout (12-1), C Conners (10-1), J Guerrier (50-1), M Hughes (22-1), F Laporta (60-1), J Smith (22-1), O Strydom (600-1)
• Course type Parkland
• Course overview This Gary Player design opened in 1996 and hosted the Tour Championship on the South African circuit from 2001 to 2004. The more prestigious Alfred Dunhill moved to Leopard Creek for the 2005 season (December, 2004) and has remained there ever since. There was no Alfred Dunhill in 2017 as the course was undergoing extensive improvements. Scoring has been tougher since the changes. There was no Alfred Dunhill in 2021 due to Covid. The course is located on the southern edge of Kruger National Park, with wild animals usually in close attendance. Two long par-fours approaching the turn (the eighth and ninth) provide the greatest challenge. The 311-yard par-four sixth is tempting to big-hitters. The course has hosted the African Amateur from 2016 to 2020, and in 2022, 2023 and this year
• Story of last year Louis Oosthuizen defeated Charl Schwartzel by two shots in a battle of good friends who play most of their golf on the LIV circuit
• Weather forecast A mixture of sunshine and clouds, gentle breezes and extremely hot, with temperatures reaching 40C on both Thursday and Friday
• Type of player suited to the challenge Powerful sorts traditionally thrived on this track, but the changes made it firmer and faster, with dry, fast greens, lending itself to more controlled operators
• Key attribute Accuracy

Steve Palmer's Alfred Dunhill Championship key stat

Charl Schwartzel has won three of the last ten Alfred Dunhills

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