Nov 14, 2019: Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player debutant Christiaan Bezuidenhout is living the dream as he prepares to tee it up in ‘Africa’s Major’ for the first time in his career, in the penultimate Rolex Series event of the 2019 Race to Dubai.
The 25-year-old has had a break-out year on the European Tour in his second full season, with five top ten finishes and a maiden victory at the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Valderrama Masters hosted by the Sergio Foundation in June.
In an event with a 39-year history, Bezuidenhout has fond memories of visiting Sun City to watch his heroes and is now looking forward to being on the receiving end of home support.
One of nine South Africans in the field, Bezuidenhout is joined at Gary Player Country Club by another first-time winner in the 2019 season, Scandinavian Invitation champion Erik van Rooyen, who is currently eighth on the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex after reaching the play-off at last week’s Turkish Airlines Open.
The pair are one half of four South Africans who have won European Tour titles this season, with Justin Harding and Louis Oosthuizen also teeing it up on home soil.
After taking last week off, Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick is feeling rested in his pursuit of becoming this year’s Race to Dubai winner. The 2016 Ryder Cup player has four runner-up finishes this season and is sitting fourth on the season-long Rankings, just over 1,000 points behind current leader Bernd Wiesberger.
However, with 1,665 points on offer to the winner, and a first prize of US$2.5million – the highest in European Tour history before next week’s US$3million winner’s cheque at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai – competition is set to be fierce with just two events of the season remaining.
European Tour Release
