Dylan Frittelli is doing something this week that he’s never done before, starting a European Tour event as a winner, writes WADE PRETORIUS.

Frittelli held off a late charge and some nerves to claim the Lyoness Open two weeks ago, and after taking some time off, he’s back and ready to meet the challenge of competing against the world’s best at the BMW International Open in Germany.

‘I feel pretty good,’ said Frittelli said, who spent the week off in Slovenia with friends.

‘Yeah, it was good. Just spent some time off, trained a bit and played some golf.’

For the first time, the 27-year-old tees it up as a European Tour winner and admits that it does take some getting used to.

‘Entering the week I do feel good. My game feels the same as it did, so that’s obviously nice. It is a little different though, coming in as a winner, having to play the pro-am and meeting a lot of people. I’m still seeing a lot of faces since the win, so there’s still some congratulating, which is a great feeling.

‘I have to try get used to that quickly and stay focused on the tournament and my preparation. But it’s going well so far.’

Frittelli won’t be looking to change much after his breakthrough win in Austria, where he got himself into the hunt by hitting fairways and greens in regulation on a course where he has never played.

‘Basically, I want to keep it rolling on from what happened in Austria. I am trying to get used to the course, having never played the course before (Golfclub München Eichenried).

‘The course is a bit soft right now, so I will have to make a lot of birdies, which means having my driver working well because it is quite tight from the box.’

Frittelli is one of 15 South Africans in the field this week alongside Ernie Els, Brandon Stone and George Coetzee, who all played last week’s US Open.

Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images