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Takudzwa Chitsiga Sports Reporter
LEADING Zimbabwean professional golfer Scott Vincent will be joined by four other locals in the European Tour co-sanctioned South African Open which tees off this morning at Randpark Golf Club.

The 108th South African Open Championship will have five locals who include former Zimbabwe Open amateur champion Sean Crocker.

Vincent will be joined by the top ranked Zimbabweans on the Sunshine Tour, Mark Williams and Ryan Cairns, in a field that has several stars such as veteran like Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace, Dylan Frittelli, Shaun Norris, Justin Harding, Adison da Silva and Charl Schwartzel.

Williams will go into the fray as a top 50 ranked member as Cairns is a re-ranked member while Cayeux made it through a medical background.

Crocker, who is playing on the European Tour, will this time come under the Zimbabwean flag and is expected to carry his fine form as should Vincent who has been doing wonders on the Asian Tour where he is ranked among the top 10.

Some of the local professionals who could not make it through the pre-qualifiers include the Mandhu siblings Mahommad and Kyaam, Greg Bentley, Ben Follet-Smith, Mark Williams, Hanish Nagrani and Tudor Bismarck.

The South African Open was inaugurated in 1903 after a series of exhibition matches.

It is the second-oldest national Open golf championship in the world, with the Open Championship being the oldest. It is also the second-oldest sporting competition in South Africa after the Currie Cup, which was first played for in 1893.