Big swing is on the way
After 34 years, the NGC to form part of the finals series in the Race to Dubai
ALASTAIR Roper won’t call it an end of an era, but this year’s Nedbank Golf Challenge (NGC) represents a significant point of departure in the event’s ongoing metamorphosis.
From next year the tournament will feature 72 contestants and will be played three weeks earlier so that it forms part of the finals series in the Race to Dubai.
“We are trying to move to a hybrid model,” said Roper, the tournament director.
“The event has evolved from when it started with five players [in 1981].
“I say hybrid model because in the eligibility structure next year we retain eight invites.”
This year Roper was able to lure “about 80%” of his wish list. “My levels of expectation are quite high.
“I thought we would get someone like Ricky Fowler. Ernie’s [Els] withdrawal was a disappointment.”
Jason Day and Justin Rose declared their intentions not to attend early.
“We try and get a mix of players from across the world,” explained Roper.
“From a marketing point of view to get [Emiliano] Grillo here from Argentina is great because of Sun International’s developments in South America.”
The rookies apart, the tournament also boasts four former champions in Henrik Stenson, Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood and Danny Willett.
Defending champion Willett and world No 7 Stenson aside, the other two spent this year searching for the form that made them a force in the sport.
Stenson, the highest world ranked player in the field, will be on his sixth visit to the event. The 2008 champion boasts a magnificent record in the tournament and is yet to finish outside the top four.
For Kaymer, a former world No 1, it has been a year of missed opportunities, especially in Abu Dhabi where he led by 10 with 13 to go.
He has lost his playing privileges on the PGA Tour for next year, while Westwood, whose focus has shifted to his family, has opted not to pursue his.
Willett, by contrast, has only just tasted the good life among the game’s elite.
He failed to record an eagle en route to the title last year, but his career has since soared.
Another Englishman who found early-season form and maintained it is Andy Sullivan.
He won three events on the European Tour, but this is his first attempt at the NGC on a layout notoriously merciless on the uninitiated.
South Africa’s challenge will be led by Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace and Charl Schwartzel.
Oosthuizen, 15th in the world, was tied second at the US Open and the Open, while Grace was tied fourth and third at the US Open and US PGA respectively.
Schwartzel of late started showing glimpses of his best.
He was tied fourth in the World Tour Championships in Dubai last week and was this week leading the way in the Alfred Dunhill Championships at Leopard Creek.
Roper said the course was in good nick but added the rough “isn’t where it is supposed to be” because of the lack of rain.
It will give the long hitters a bit of a reprieve, but Roper was hopeful for a shower or two before tee-off on Thursday.