Dan Bradbury prepared to try and tame 'best' Blair Atholl course at South African Open

Bradbury, who only turned professional in July and received a sponsor’s invite to last week’s event at Houghton Golf Club, led after every round on his way to a stunning three-shot win.

It earned the 23-year-old Yorkshireman a place in next year’s Open Championship and a full DP World Tour card, but there has been little time to celebrate ahead of the Investec South African Open at Blair Atholl Golf and Country Estate.

Described as a “beast” by 2016 champion Brandon Stone, the course measures 8,161 yards and features par fives of 650, 641, 636 and 606 yards. The par-five 18th is a mere 568 yards.

“Oh it’s massive,” said Bradbury, from Wakefield. “We’re going to be putting the mid to long-irons to work this week.

“Sometimes we tend to just use the top end and bottom end of the clubs in the golf bag and the middle kind of gets forgotten about. I like a mix.

“This week it’s nice to be hitting a lot of seven and six irons into greens. As much as it’s harder, it’s nice to mix it up.”

Stone, whose victory in his national Open came at Glendower Golf Club, added: “I think Blair Atholl will be an absolute test of the game. It’s a beast.

“The Blair Mile on the back nine (holes 14-16) is a true test of ball striking. You cannot miss a shot there. A par on those few holes is great. If the wind gets up the course will be even tougher.”

Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, who lost a play-off to England’s Andy Sullivan in 2015, believes length is not the course’s only defence.

“I’ve always thought that it’s a second shot golf course. The greens are the defence,” Schwartzel said.

“They’re big but they’ve got angles to them which means you need to be pretty precise with your distance control. Good iron play will serve you well.”

The LIV Golf League will stage events in Spain, Mexico and Singapore next year, all at venues regularly used by the PGA Tour or DP World Tour.

The Spanish event will be held from June 30 to July 2 at Valderrama, which hosted the 1997 Ryder Cup, two WGC events and numerous tournaments on the DP World Tour, most recently in October.

Adrian Otaegui, who successfully challenged sanctions imposed by the DP World Tour for competing in LIV Golf events, cruised to a six-shot victory in the Andalucia Masters with a tournament-record total of 19 under par.

The DP World Tour is hoping to add more tournaments to their schedule next year and a spokesperson told the PA news agency: “Our 2023 schedule, announced earlier this month, provides our members with a record overall prize fund and a minimum of 39 tournaments in 26 different countries, underlining our position as golf’s global Tour.

“We are in discussions with a number of venues in several different countries, including in Spain, to add further tournaments to the schedule next autumn.

“Any announcement in relation to these additional events will be made in due course.”

Mayakoba’s El Camaleon Golf Course (February 24-26) and Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore (April 28-30) join The Grange Golf Club in Adelaide (April 21-23) on the expanded schedule of 14 LIV events.

El Camaleon has hosted a PGA Tour event since 2007, while Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia are among the winners of the Singapore Open at Sentosa.

LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman said: “LIV Golf is truly a global league dedicated to expanding the sport throughout the world, and these destinations for the league’s 2023 launch showcase our commitment to tournament play at the highest level.

“These venues have played host to signature moments in golf and we’re excited to build new traditions for the sport while delivering a first-class fan experience at some of the world’s best courses.”