Lee Westwood is primed for his first European Tour title defence in five years when he tees it up in the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player – the penultimate Rolex Series event on the 2019 Race to Dubai.
The former World Number One fired a stunning final round of 64 at Gary Player Country Club last year to finish three strokes ahead of Ryder Cup teammate Sergio Garcia, returning to the winner’s circle for the first time since the 2014 Maybank Championship.
The Englishman became the first European to win the title three times following his victories in 2010 and 2011, to join South African legend Ernie Els and Zimbabwean Major winner Nick Price
Westwood will start the week in Sun City in the company of Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex leader Bernd Wiesberger of Austria and fellow Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick, who currently occupies fourth place on the season-long standings.
Wiesberger has a lead of 387 points over Jon Rahm with just two events left to play. The winner of the Nedbank Golf Challenge will receive 1,665 points and a cheque for US$2.5million – before players battle for the largest first prize in tournament golf - US$3million – at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai next week.
Also teeing it up at the Nedbank Golf Challenge this week are 2017 Race to Dubai winner Tommy Fleetwood, who made his last appearance at this event that same year, and South African legend Els, who won the Nedbank Golf Challenge in 1999, 2000 and 2002, before the event joined the European Tour’s International Schedule in 2013.
What they say
Lee Westwood: “I always look forward to coming back to Sun City. It’s a brilliant resort and great golf course. Always done well around here and it brings back good feelings. “It’s nice to be back defending a tournament. Tough to win these Rolex Series events and managed to win this one last year. I’m excited about playing well again. I played well in Turkey last week, and excited to get back on the golf course this week.
“I’ve won four times around here: three Nedbanks and a Dimension Data. I know the course well. I know where they put the flags. I read these greens pretty well, as well. Distance control with the elevation changes and the extremes in temperature all come into that. I have a pretty good game plan for the course and I know how to handle the variations in conditions.”
Bernd Wiesberger: “There are so many points to be had over the last events again, and a lot of things can happen. I’m just looking to be prepared as good as I can.
“It’s getting a little bit tighter with some of my game that hasn’t been there the last two weeks. Just look at the course and looking really forward to this week again. I’m not looking too much into the ranking and just controlling what I can control.”
Tommy Fleetwood: “It’s really nice to be back. I missed last year, the way scheduling worked out. Coming back, played it a few years now, and got such a great atmosphere, such a big event, it always has been. It continues to get bigger, really, and in terms of how important it is to the season everything and, coming down to the final couple of events, it’s special.
“The game wasn’t there in China, so we had to work on it. But I’ve done some good work last week. I feel a lot better. I feel a lot happier with where my swing is and where my head is.”
Ernie Els: “I’m really pleased they gave they the invite. I was coming down to these parts already – I’m over 50 now, so I’m the oldest guy in the field, but I’ve had so many great memories around Sun City from fans and from the people I’ve met here, and obviously the golf course is very special to me.”
Lee Westwood won the Nedbank Golf Challenge last year to break a four-year title drought. PICTURE: Getty Images
