Back injury rules Na out of Sun City

Cape Town - PGA Tour star Kevin Na has withdrawn from next week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge because of a back injury.

Na will be replaced in the field for the December 3-6 tournament by England’s Tommy Fleetwood, who makes his second appearance in the Nedbank Golf Challenge. He finished tied 14th last year.

According to Na’s management company, Empire Sports Management, the Korean-born American has decided to rest his injured back.

“Kevin’s back is not in good shape at the moment. He has decided to err on the side of caution and withdraw in order to give his back the appropriate amount of time for rest and rehab.

“Kevin acknowledges that this will be disappointing news. He was looking forward to a return trip since he had such a good experience last year,” said his manager, Kevin Lynch.

Fleetwood heads back to Sun City as one of the European Tour’s most consistent players over the past two seasons. This year he had four top-10s on the European Tour, including third in the Shenzhen International, tied fifth in the WGC-Cadillac Match Play and tied sixth in the BMW PGA Championship.

The 30th and final place in “Africa’s Major” will be taken by the winner of the Alfred Dunhill Championship this weekend.

2015 NEDBANK GOLF CHALLENGE CONFIRMED PLAYERS:

Charl Schwartzel (South Africa)

Webb Simpson (United States)

Keegan Bradley (United States)

Lee Westwood (England)

Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa)

Henrik Stenson (Sweden)

Branden Grace (South Africa)

Danny Willett (England)

Thomas Aiken (South Africa)

Robert Streb (United States)

Scott Piercy (United States)

Steven Bowditch (Australia)

Shane Lowry (Ireland)

Victor Dubuisson (France)

Bernd Wiesberger (Austria)

Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand)

Byeong Hun An (South Korea)

Martin Kaymer (Germany)

Søren Kjeldsen (Denmark)

Tommy Fleetwood (England)

Ross Fisher (England)

Marc Leishman (Australia)

Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand)

Andy Sullivan (England)

Jaco van Zyl (South Africa)

Matthew Fitzpatrick (England)

Chris Wood (England)

Emiliano Grillo (Argentina)

Russell Knox (Scotland)