Danny Willett out to deny Charl Schwartzel a hat-trick of Alfred Dunhill Championship wins

Charl Schwartzel finds a decent-quality field in his way as he attempts to win his third consecutive Alfred Dunhill Championship title this week.

The former Masters champion has been in a class of his own over the last two editions of the tournament at the stunning Leopard Creek Country Club in Malelane, winning by 12 shots at the end of 2012 before cruising to a four-stroke win last year.

But the field looks significantly stronger this week, with the likes of 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and last week's Nedbank Golf Challenge winner Danny Willett in attendance.

Willett will be high on confidence following his superb performance in Sun City, where he shot 65, 66 over the weekend to earn an impressive four-shot victory over Ross Fisher as 54-hole leader Luke Donald faded on the final day.

Schwartzel is an obvious 7/1 favourite with Sky Bet on a layout he adores, but he has struggled for consistency in his last three outings and failed to break 70 at either the WGC-HSBC Champions, the DP World Tour Championship or the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Oosthuizen (9/1) finished tied for sixth in Dubai and seventh in Sun City, albeit a distant 15 shots behind Willett, all of which makes the Englishman the more attractive option this week at 10/1.

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Willett posted a top-10 finish at Leopard Creek last year and was 18th the previous season, so he obviously enjoys the course and it would be a surprise if he wasn't in the mix come Sunday afternoon.

Of the other South Africans on show, Hennie Otto (25/1) looks a solid each-way chance as he attempts to build on a successful 2014 campaign which included a memorable win at the Italian Open.

The 38-year-old has collected 12 career wins on the Sunshine Tour in his homeland, the last of which was the South African Open in 2011, and he was going well here 12 months ago before a disappointing final-round 77 cost him a top-10 finish.

But perhaps the bet of the week could be Magnus A Carlsson, a talented Swede who has an excellent record on hard and fast layouts in South Africa.

Carlsson was 18th at Leopard Creek in 2012 and seventh last year, and his end-of-season form has been encouraging as he cashed in his final seven European Tour starts.

He has come off his most-productive season, with four top-10 finishes and almost half a million euros in earnings, and he looks a steal at 80/1 to upstage the bigger stars this week.

Watch the action from all four days of the Alfred Dunhill Championship live on Sky Sports 4. Coverage begins on the red button at 8.30am on Thursday.