Dan Bradbury sets his sights on earning PGA Tour card ahead of Joburg Open title defence
Dan Bradbury
Yorkshire's Dan Bradbury has set his sights on earning a PGA Tour card ahead of his title defence in the Joburg Open.
Bradbury enjoyed a fairy-tale victory at Houghton Golf Club 12 months ago, leading from start to finish in just his third DP World Tour event after receiving a last-minute sponsor's invite.
The 24-year-old from Wakefield went on to qualify for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship and finished 36th on the money list as he reached a career-high 187th in the world rankings.
Bradbury is focusing largely on statistical objectives for the new campaign, but would also like to claim one of the 10 PGA Tour cards which will again be on offer to the highest finishers in the Race to Dubai who are not already exempt.
"It's been fantastic, a brilliant year which just ended last week," said Bradbury, who attended Lincoln Memorial University and Florida State before turning professional in July 2022.
"Another one like that would be great and hopefully a bit better even. I wouldn't have done any of it without the invite here last year.
"I try to set personal goals in terms of my own statistics and things, I've got areas to improve and other areas to maintain.
"Look, it would be great to end next year with a PGA Tour card, one of the top 10 spots, but we'll see what happens. If I do the right things in my game that will come."
South Africa's Thriston Lawrence (90th) and Spain's Adrian Otaegui (96th) are the only two players in the world's top 100 in the field in Johannesburg, where new father Christiaan Bezuidenhout – who finished third behind Bradbury – is among the favourites.
"We welcomed our son John about three weeks ago," said the world number 115, who is bidding to add the Joburg Open title to his previous wins in the South African Open and Alfred Dunhill Championship.
"It's nice to be back in South Africa and to see friends and family again, and all the friendly faces on the Sunshine Tour as well. It's always nice to come back home and support the local events."
The leading three players, who are not already exempt, who make the cut in the Joburg Open will earn places in next year's Open at Royal Troon via the Open Qualifying Series.
