Continuing his exclusive column for Golf News, DP World Tour player DAN BRADBURY reports back on a superb start to his 2026 campaign, which started with a runner-up finish at the big-money Nedbank Challenge in South Africa in December, and progressed through some strong performances in the Desert Swing, before he returned to the winner’s circle with a thrilling victory at the Joburg Open at Houghton Golf Club in Johannesburg, scene of his first professional win in 2022.
“It feels amazing to be able to start off my first column of the year and be talking about a win, but here we are. I won’t say that it was overdue or that it was expected, as with nine holes to go at the Joburg Open I don’t think even my biggest fans held much hope of anything beyond maybe a top-three finish, but it just goes to show that you just need to keep yourself in the mix, as anything can happen down the closing stretch of a tournament when there is so much on the line.
I was in the final group out on the course on Sunday, playing alongside home favourite Henni du Plessis, who had a two-shot lead over me and Alex Fitzpatrick. Henni had being playing brilliantly all week and hadn’t made a bogey in something like 22 holes going into the back nine and looked to be cruising to a comfortable win. He was five clear of me at the turn and I was desperately trying to hold on and hoping for a strong finish to keep me somewhere up at the top end of the leaderboard.
But pressure has a habit of doing funny things to you, and with Henni eyeing up his first win at this level, he dropped shots at 12 and 15, while I made birdies at 10, 11 and 14, and suddenly the door was open for the me and the chasing pack.
Jarvis Casey, who was going for his third win in as many weeks, and Brandon Robinson-Thompson were also in the mix, but they both dropped shots late on and I found myself standing on the 18th tee needing to make par to win. It’s what you dream of – having the tournament in your hands.
I hit a decent drive, and left myself around 160 yards in, but with the wind swirling about I misjudged my approach and it rolled into the rough at the back of the green about 20 feet from the pin. I’m a pretty confident chipper, but even I surprised myself about how I committed to the shot under that pressure and was delighted when it popped up, skipped forward and rolled out to tap-in range.
After winning this event in 2022, which was also held at Houghton, I obviously came into the tournament with some good memories and some positive vibes, but that was four years ago, so you can’t simply cling on to the past too much. I’m not sure why the course seems to bring out the best in me, but it’s similar to the course at Wakefield Golf Club, where I grew up playing. It’s quite tight, tree-lined and you’ve got to drive it well. I did that and putted pretty well too, so it all kind of fell into place.
HANDBRAKE OFF, ALMOST
Obviously it feels great to have bagged a win so early in the season, and to have backed up the form I’ve been showing for the last few weeks, although the scores haven’t always shown it. Prior to Joburg Open I had some decent results, with a second-place finish at the NedBank Challenge, also in South Africa, back in December really getting the season off to a strong start.
That result – the prize money for second was over €400,000 – pretty much secured my card for 2027 in one go and gave me the kind of momentum every player dreams of going into the 2026. I don’t ever think like I’m just trying to keep my card every year, but knowing that’s taken care of does allow you to play with the handbrake off, to a certain extent, and may have played its part in me winning in Johannesburg.
After putting the clubs away over Christmas and the New Year, I headed out to Dubai in early January a few days early before the Invitational and the Desert Classic and got stuck into some good practice to shake off the rust. I made the cut at the two events in Dubai, then missed the one in Bahrain by a couple shots, but didn’t feel like I’d played that badly.
I then had a great week in Qatar, firing four rounds in the 60s to finish fifth. That result felt particularly satisfying because in Bahrain I’d had a two‑way miss creep in, which I hadn’t seen for a while. I don’t really like being too technical with my swing – I hadn’t even videoed it for a couple of months – but after Bahrain I felt like I needed to check what was going on on camera, and sure enough, I spotted a couple of bad habits. I tidied those up in Qatar and my game felt really solid all week.
Funny thing is, in the first round in Qatar I had three three‑putts and still shot two under. It didn’t feel like anything special at the time, but after looking at it properly, I realised the ball‑striking must have been really strong. That gave me a good push heading into the rest of the week. I didn’t quite get the finish I wanted – I bogeyed 17 after going for a birdie putt and trying to push for the win, but ended up missing the one back. I’d always rather chase a win than tiptoe to a top‑ten, so I don’t regret trying to push and be positive, even it costs me a place or two.
SMELLING THE ROSES… AND THE ROSÉ
After Qatar I flew home for a week off, then headed out to Kenya where things didn’t quite go to plan. I missed the cut by two shots, which wasn’t ideal, but again, I don’t feel like I did a lot wrong. From there we headed down to Cape Town for the South African Open at Stellenbosch.
My girlfriend, Brogan, has been travelling with me all this year, which has made life on the road a lot easier. It’s so easy when you’re on your own to fall into a routine of hotel rooms and Netflix, but having someone with you gives you a reason to go out and take time to enjoy some of the amazing places we get to go on tour. We visited a couple of wine estates and a game reserve around Stellenbosch, ate in some incredible restaurants, and enjoyed doing a bit of sightseeing.
We even visited Ernie Els’ vineyard, which has some great wines and some unreal views. I’ve never actually played with Ernie, but I’ve stood next to him on the range. Even at his age, he’s frightening. The tempo, the distance, how effortlessly he swings – it’s something else. He’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet too.
Sadly, I didn’t play great in Stellenbosch and missed the cut by one, so we had a bit more time to enjoy the local sights before heading to Johannesburg, where it all came good for me.
DRIVING FOR DOUGH
Looking at my performance stats so far this season, I’m off to a decent start. My driving distance is up – from an average of just under 300 yards to up above 310. During my six‑week stretch off, I pushed myself harder in the gym and it seems like that has paid off. It didn’t necessarily add raw speed, but it has given me way more stability at higher speeds. For the first time, I feel like I’ve been able to bring my ‘range swing’ and ‘course swing’ closer together. At the Nedbank in December, I drove the ball as well as I ever have. That’s carried into this year. I’ve gained distance without losing accuracy, which is the perfect combination.
My greens in regulation stats are better too, although I don’t really look at GIR itself – ‘Strokes Gained’ is far more telling. But even so, if you’re 10-15 yards closer on every approach, you’re going to hit more greens. There’s definitely been an improvement in my approach play though, and not just a side effect of longer tee shots.
Equipment‑wise, hardly anything has changed this year. Ping brought out its new 259 wedges just before the Nedbank, so I had them in the bag that week and I have stuck with them. I’ve switched into a new E‑grind lob wedge very recently, but it’s tiny adjustments, nothing dramatic. Some players switch grinds depending on the course, but honestly, 80 or 90 percent of guys don’t bother. Maybe for something like The Open if the turf is rock‑hard, but week to week, the same setup works for me.
UNCERTAIN TIMES
Looking ahead, the schedule gets interesting with the Asian Swing. Right now, the plan is to play the first two events in India and China, but obviously with everything happening with hostilities in the Middle East at the moment, who knows how travel will be affected. The tour hasn’t said anything, so we have to assume everything’s going ahead, but it’s impossible to predict right now.
After those two events, I’m taking four weeks off in April because I’ve basically been going non‑stop since mid‑January. Nine events in 11 weeks is a lot. I’ll probably head to Portugal for a golf holiday with some mates, reset, and then start back in Turkey at the end of April and then Barcelona for the Catalunya Championship in the second week of May as we move into the Europe-based part of the schedule.
Other than that, the goals are pretty straightforward – put myself into contention more often, ideally pick up another win, and look to push for one of the ten PGA Tour cards that are on offer at the end of the season. The game’s trending in the right direction. If I keep doing the right things, I’ll hopefully give myself every chance.”
