Out of the Rough: LIV Golf South Africa (2026)

The LIV Golf Tour heads to South Africa for the very first time for this week’s LIV Golf South Africa.

Since the tour’s inception in 2022, it has never made a stop in South Africa until this year.

This week’s event will be hosted by The Club at Steyn City, sitting just outside of Johannesburg.

Although this event, and the course as a whole, is new, The Club at Steyn City hosted the Steyn City Championship on the DP World Tour in 2022.

In typical LIV Golf Tour fashion, it promises a ‘watering hole’ and a party atmosphere.

The Course

As is the case each week, all of the LIV Golf stars will be in attendance, including Jon Rahm who has been nothing short of amazing to start his 2026 campaign.

All eyes will be on the South African Stinger GC team that includes captain Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Dean Burmester and Branden Grace.

If you’ve followed along to any event held in South Africa across any Tour, you know the natives show-up and perform well in their home country. This may be the case this week as well, as this is the first time that LIV Golf has made a stop in South Africa.

The Course

The Club at Steyn City was designed by Jack Nicklaus with construction completed by Golf Data. It opened in 2014.

It plays as a par-72 at a staggering 7,716 yards.

As is the case with many courses in South Africa, the distance number on the scorecard jumps out at you but will play much shorter as the course sits approximately 4,500 feet above sea-level.

The course is shadowed by Douw Steyn’s, a South African insurance mogul, ‘Palazzo Steyn’ mansion. The mansion is valued at approximately $25 million, making it the most expensive home in South Africa and was constructed between 2015-16. The massive home sits high on a ridge with mesmerizing waterfalls.

The Club at Steyn City is a challenging parkland layout that includes the Jukskei River that comes into play.

It was constructed within an old rock quarry next to the river.

Fairways and greens are perfectly manicured and the course features 75 bunkers and a unique set of water hazards.

The front-nine plays much more difficult than the back-nine. One of the course’s signature holes is the par-four seventh which features an elevated tee playing down to a fairway protected by bunkers and a creek.

The back-nine is the easier of the two-nines, highlighted by the lengthy par-four closing hole that includes a split fairway that is well guarded by bunkers and a lake short of the green. 

We can also expect some low scores this week as Shaun Norris won the 2022 DP World Tour event here at -25. LIV Golf’s Burmester was the runner-up at -22. 

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, each of Thursday, Friday and Saturday are calling for a 15-percent chance of precipitation. Sunday currently calls for a 25-percent chance of precipitation. Temperatures are set for 77-degrees for Thursday through Saturday with Sunday calling for temperatures of 76-degrees. Winds will begin the week at seven miles-per-hour on Thursday before increasing to eight miles-per-hour for both Friday and Saturday. Winds will end the week at nine miles-per-hour on Sunday. 

Key Stats

• Total Driving (70-percent Average Driving Distance/30-percent Driving Accuracy)

• Birdie-or-Better Percentage

• Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)

• Putting Average

• Scrambling

Betting Card

Joaquin Niemann (+2150)

I’m well aware that Niemann blew a lead a t LIV Golf Singapore last week that allowed Bryson DeChambeau to go on to win, but just as I stated last week with DeChambeau, if you float a 20/1-plus on Niemann, I’m going to have to take it. He is currently fourth on Tour in both total driving and birdie-or-better percentage, tenth in GIR%, 33rd in putting average and 42nd in scrambling. He placed fourth last week at LIV Golf Singapore, 41st at HSBC LIV Golf Hong Kong, 12th at LIV Golf Adelaide and 22nd at LIV Golf Riyadh so far this season. 

Thomas Pieters (+2450)

Across the first four events of the season, only Jon Rahm and Lucas Herbert have a better average finishing placement than Pieters. He placed sixth last week at LIV Golf Singapore, third at the HSBC LIV Golf Hong Kong, 27th at LIV Golf Adelaide and fourth at LIV Golf Riyadh this season. He is currently fourth on Tour in putting average, sixth in birdie-or-better percentage, seventh in scrambling, 16th in GIR% and 29th in total driving. 

Dean Burmester (+3000)

We can’t come to South Africa without backing some natives. As previously mentioned, South Africa may be the country with the highest win-rate of golfers from the same country (excluding the USA.) Burmester is currently sixth on Tour in total driving, ninth in birdie-or-better percentage, tenth in GIR%, 25th in putting average and 47th in scrambling. Since a poor start to the season in Riyadh (51st,) he’s been on a tear. He placed sixth at LIV Golf Adelaide, seventh at HSBC LIV Golf Hong Kong and tenth last week at LIV Golf Singapore. 

Brendan Steele (+14000)

I had to take a long shot on Steele. He is currently seventh on Tour in total driving, 24th in GIR%, 29th in birdie-or-better percentage, 39th in scrambling and 40th in putting average. He placed tenth last week at LIV Golf Singapore, 24th at LIV Golf Hong Kong, 14th at LIV Golf Adelaide and 57th at LIV Golf Riyadh.