Jarvis eyeing three wins in a row on DP World Tour to join greats Ballesteros, Faldo
2026-03-04 - 12:43
Having won back-to-back tournaments in the last fortnight all eyes will be on young Casey Jarvis to see if he can make it a hat trick of wins when the Joburg Open gets underway at Houghton Golf Club on Thursday. Jarvis first won the Kenya Open two weekends ago and then backed that up with a win at the SA Open at Stellenbosch Golf Club on Sunday. The victories have seen the 22-year-old enter the top 100, at 80, in the world golf rankings. Jarvis also won spots at the Masters and (British) Open by winning last weekend. Three in a row? Only two other players have won three tournaments in a row on the DP World Tour (European Tour), namely Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo. “That would be crazy. I’ll definitely go for it. To have my name up there with theirs would be unreal,” said Jarvis, who still cannot believe how his career – and life – has changed in the last few weeks. “I got home on Monday, and to see the Masters pin flag and the Open pin flag was truly unreal. It’s crazy that I’m going to the Masters. To have won my home Open is a dream come true.” But he is well aware of the challenge he faces again this week at Houghton. “The Joburg Open was one of those I’ve wanted to win. It would be nice to be in contention for it, but as always, everybody starts again at level par this week. “It’s been two long weeks for me mentally, but I’m going to give it my all and hopefully it turns out well. I’ll keep my expectations very low. “There are so many good players here like Patrick Reed and Jayden Schaper, so I know it will be a long hard battle. Houghton is a tricky little short golf course with very slopey greens. Your iron play has to be spot on this week, and your putting as well if you want to compete.” Challengers Schaper has also won twice this season, back-to-back as well. He triumphed at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and Mauritius Open in December. This will be American former Masters champion’s Reed’s second straight tournament in South Africa after also playing last week in Stellenbosch. Other locals to look out for this week who’ll present big challenge to Jarvis include Thriston Lawrence, Dylan Frittelli and Shaun Norris. Overseas players who’ll look to challenge this week include Angel Ayora, Francesco Laporte and former champions of the Joburg Open, Shubhankar Sharma and Dan Bradbury. – With Michael Vlismas