When Ryan van Velzen teed off this morning in the DP World Tour’s Turkish Airlines Open at Regnum Carya in Antalya, Türkiye, he would have taken great encouragement from the feeling that the course feels similar to his home Benoni Country Club.

Van Velzen, who won the 2023-24 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, and was runner-up in the 2023 Investec South African Open Championship and the 2024 Alfred Dunhill Championship, won his way onto the DP World Tour with those performances.

He’s currently ranked 45th on the Race to Dubai rankings, with his second place at Leopard Creek last December, and his share of 11th at the Magical Kenya Open in February his best performances so far this season.

With the trees here, some tee-shots call for a right-to-left shape, which I’m pretty good at, so it should suit me,” he said. “I’d say it’s actually similar to Benoni Country Club, with the tree-lines. So it’s a little bit like my home course. Maybe it’s also a little like Randpark. And with the rough not up, it’s very playable.”

Van Velzen is happy with his position as the DP World Tour begins its European Swing, which leads up to the climactic Final Swing with all it’s very biggest tournaments. “I skipped the Chinese events when I had my wisdom teeth out,” he said, “and I just didn’t fancy that long trip. So I took a break. I’m not one who normally takes breaks, because I get bored.”

He’s set himself up for the long run in Europe now, however, after that break, and will play in every tournament that he gets into. And that’s because he knows he belongs at the higher level now.

“I’ve come close a couple of time,” he said. “I think I led the SA Open with eight holes to play, and I have had other chances to win in the last year. So I think if I can put a good week together, I can probably win if everything goes my way.”