Rolex Series champions Ryan Fox and Victor Perez are among a host of DP World Tour stars ready to tee it up at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, as the field is set for the latest edition of ‘Africa’s Major’ from November 9-12.
Frenchman Perez, who triumphed in the first Rolex Series event of the year at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, and Kiwi Fox, winner of the prestigious BMW PGA Championship, will join defending champion Tommy Fleetwood, Major winners Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari and Justin Thomas, and Ryder Cup stars Max Homa, Nicolai Højgaard and Robert MacIntyre in the field at Sun City’s Gary Player Country Club.
The US$6 000 000 event will welcome a 66-player field including over 40 proven DP World Tour winners, and carries an increased number of Race to Dubai Ranking Points as the penultimate tournament on the 2023 DP World Tour schedule, ahead of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
Poland’s Adrian Meronk, who won for the third time on the 2023 Race to Dubai at the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters two weeks ago, will go into the Nedbank Golf Challenge as the highest-ranked player on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex in third place, narrowly ahead of Fox and Perez, who currently sit fourth and fifth.
Last week’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters winner Sami Välimäki and runner-up Jorge Campillo will join two-time DP World Tour winner Vincent Norrman and Cazoo Open de France champion Ryo Hisatsune in Sun City, as well as Danish duo Thorbjørn Olesen and Rasmus Højgaard, both winners in 2023.
Germany’s Marcel Siem ended an emotional eight-year wait for a DP World Tour victory at the Hero Indian Open in February and he will be one of five Germans teeing it up in Sun City. Yannik Paul, Hurly Long and Maximillian Kieffer complete the German quintet alongside Nick Bachem, who is one of five DP World Tour players to have tasted success on South African soil so far in the 2023 season.
Bachem secured his maiden DP World Tour title at the Jonsson Workwear Open in March, the week after England’s Matt Baldwin won for the first time at the SDC Championship, with both players joining Joburg Open champion Dan Bradbury in the winner’s circle.
Thriston Lawrence, the Investec South African Open Championship winner, and Sunshine Tour Order of Merit delivered by The Courier Guy winner Ockie Strydom, who triumphed at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, will fly the flag for the home nation in Sun City, joining Zander Lombard, Louis de Jager, Branden Grace and Hennie du Plessis.
The Nedbank Golf Challenge has been a highlight of the South African sporting calendar since its first edition in 1981, with two-time winner Fleetwood among a glittering list of winners including South African golfing icon Ernie Els – a three-time winner of the event – the legendary Seve Ballesteros, and major champions Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, Nick Faldo, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman and Danny Willett.
The 2023 Nedbank Golf Challenge is once again included on the DP World Tour schedule in partnership with Nedbank and Sun International.