Sign up for our daily newsletter

Want latest news, reviews, analysis, deals, and events, and offers from our commercial partners? We’ve got you.

When the history books are written, they will presumably record the first week of the DP World Tour as ‘chaotic’.

The new-look, newly-named circuit saw its first event – the Joburg Open – reduced to 36 holes as a result of both inclement weather and the discovery of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

The emergence of the new strain prompted the UK Government to put South Africa back on the travel ‘red list’, prompting more than a dozen British and Irish players to withdraw ahead of Friday’s second round in a bid to make it home before new quarantine rules came into effect over the weekend.

• Brooks reveals in beating DeChambeau

• New COVID variant forces tour into tweaks

That, though, was far from straightforward.

bunkered.co.uk understands that the tour attempted to arrange a charter for players, caddies and officials from Joburg to Dubai only for that flight to be cancelled when authorities in the UAE revoked the travel permit.

In a lengthy Twitter post, English pro Matt Ford shed some light on the chaos that ripped through the opening event of the 2022 DP World Tour season.

“Only 48 hours ago, I woke up thinking of good things to make up for a poor first round in the Joburg Open,” said Ford, now safely quarantining at home. “At 7.30am on Friday, lucky, a friend ‘Macca’ [Richard McEvoy] was banging on my room door and asked if I had seen the news.

• Two injured after pigs invade golf course

“The thought of not being able to get home to my family was my main concern. Within a few hours, I had uncomfortably rushed to book an extortionately priced new flight home through Ethiopia and Turkey and driven to an express PCR testing centre in a suburb of Johannesburg.

“[I] then quickly packed up, checked out of the hotel got a taxi and joined what seemed like an eternity of multiple long queues for people to question the endless paperwork and hoops we are made to jump through.”

Ford, 43, finally made it home to Kent after a 30-hour scramble but is now isolating away from his young family to save them from having to self-isolate, too. Compounding matters, his golf clubs have gone missing in transit.

• Government mulling over Ryder Cup bid

• OPINION – “Shaun Murphy wrong about amateurs”

“I do love my job but moments like this make you wonder,” he added. “Being able to see my family through a window is a lot harder than I thought but those first hugs will be amazing.”

Ford’s fellow Englishman Dale Whitnell described trying to get home from South Africa as “catastrophic”.

“How the UK can leave people out with the washing is beyond me,” he tweeted. “Flight booked tonight via one of the countries not red listed yet. £15k and counting?”


author headshot

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

More Reads

Image Turnberry green

The bunkered Golf Course Guide - Scotland

Now, with bunkered, you can discover the golf courses Scotland has to offer. Trust us, you will not be disappointed.

Find Courses

Latest podcast

The PLAYERS Championship