Dylan Frittelli heads into this week’s Turkish Airlines Open on the DP World Tour on the back of performances which he feels are starting to reflect how good he can be.
At the 2017 Turkish Airlines Open, Frittelli fired a brilliant seven-under-par 64 to share second with Nicolas Colsaerts and finish one stroke behind Justin Rose
Frittelli was back in that kind of mood as he closed out the 2024 Joburg Open with a seven-under-par 63 for a share of fourth.
It set up a tilt for 2025, which gets underway in earnest on Thursday with the European Swing on the DP World Tour in Turkey.
“I feel a whole lot better than I did last year,” said Frittelli, who comes into the Turkish Airlines Open in 40th position in the Race to Dubai, nicely set up for a charge at the upper echelons on those rankings.
“I’m really excited to be back in Turkey,” he said. “I’m really enjoying the old Regnum Carya golf course that I remember from 2017.
“I think my game has changed a lot since then. I’m a much longer striker of the ball now so I can be more aggressive on this course. Besides that, there’s not too much to change. Hitting the driver long helps a lot and leaving yourself in good positions around the green.
“Hopefully I can make the right decisions and put the right swing on the ball. I haven’t done too much of a deep dive into it, but I think the scores will be low. The winning score this week should be 20 or 21 under. I’ve got to be ready to make a bunch of birdies.
“The key out here is to be aggressive. It’s easy to lay back, or play safe, or not be willing to attack certain holes, but you’ve got to attack out here to give yourself lots of chances to make birdies. The wind’s not going to blow this week, so it should be a fairly easy target situation: fairways easy to hit, greens easy to hit, so making putts is super-helpful. But mid-irons and long irons should help on the longer holes.”
Frittelli is ranked 305th in the world, nowhere near his career-high of 44th. The best ranking of the 15 South Africans in the field is Jacques Kruyswijk at a career-high 170th. That ranking is built on his win in the Magical Kenya Open and his share of second in a narrow miss in a three-way playoff in the Joburg Open.
It’s Kruyswijk’s second appearance in Turkey in the tournament’s return to the DP World Tour schedule after it fell off the calendar in 2020 due to lockdown. Before then, the tournament was part of the Tour’s playoff series, and now it kicks off the European Swing, which includes some of the most important national opens on the continent.
Kruyswijk’s previous visit to Antalya was with the Challenge Tour. If he can get on a roll at Regnum Carya, it could propel him closer to the world’s top 100 and put him in line for places in Major championships going forward.
“I’ve watched some YouTube videos of past winners here to see how the guys played the course, especially Justin Rose, who won twice, and it probably the best ball-striker in the world,” said Kruyswijk. “It’s spectacular. It’s what a golfer’s dream is all about.
“When I talked with my mental coach about the course, I said placing myself well off the tee-box is going to be important. Not driving it far, but driving it to certain positions, because from there, you can score well.
“I think my game is in a really good spot, and my body’s feeling great. After all the injuries and working through that, I’ve been feeling really well for a while now. In fact, I’m feeling the best I’ve ever felt. There were a few things I had to tighten up on off the golf course, but that pressure is released now. I don’t want to jinx myself, and say it’s fantastic. We all know golf. I always back myself, but I am a realist, and the best way to put it is that I’m comfortable where I am now, but keeping my feet on the ground.”
One of the local debutants this week is Investec South African Open champion Dylan Naidoo.
“It’s been amazing,” said Naidoo of his impressions of his adventure ahead of the tournament. “It’s probably one of the nicest golf courses we’ve played so far. The hotel is maybe the best I’ve stayed in in my life. And we have perfect weather, so it’s a great week – so far!”
Since his elevation to the ranks of winners on the DP World Tour, Naidoo hasn’t fully settled down to life on the long road, but the surroundings will make him feel he can recapture that lightning in a bottle that he caught with his playoff triumph at Durban Country Club in March.
“The adjustment has been interesting,” said Naidoo. “I did the two weeks in China, and it was a little bit of finding my feet. I was trying not to compare myself to other players. I know my game is good enough, but you’re playing with guys who are phenomenal golfers. There’s just a mental adjustment of believing in yourself and knowing what I have is good enough.”
There is a mix of youth and experience in the remainder of the South Africans in the field.
Mzansi fans are waiting for breakthroughs from the likes of Casey Jarvis, Ryan van Velzen, Wilco Nienaber, Jayden Schaper and Robin Williams. Deon Germishuys and Louis Albertse are trying to cement long-term spots on the DP World Tour, and Yurav Premlall will be looking to make the most of his invitation.
On the experienced side of the ledger, Zander Lombard, Justin Walters, Ockie Strydon and Justin Harding are all scrabbling to regain form and status on the DP World Tour.
In the last five editions of the tournament before it was mothballed for lockdown, there were three other South Africans who had a shot at the title besides Frittelli: Jaco van Zyl was runner-up to Victor Dubuisson of France in 2015, George Coetzee was fifth behind Dane Thorbjørn Olesen in 2016, and Erik van Rooyen lost out in a mammoth six-man playoff to Tyrrell Hatton in 2019.
Throw in the experience of Frittelli, Kruyswijk and Naidoo and the South African lineup has any number of possibilities in it for a breakout this week.
Photo: Sunshine Tour
