Oosthuizen added to NGC field

Cape Town - South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and George Coetzee are amongst the latest announcement of 14 players for the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club from 4-7 December.

The announcement of the further 14 players also means six of the top 10 players on the European Tour’s final Race to Dubai rankings will be headed to Sun City next week.

The field now stands at 29 golfers drawn from 14 countries, with the 30^th spot going to the winner of this week’s Cape Town Open.

Oosthuizen, Coetzee and Danie van Tonder will join Charl Schwartzel and Dawie van der Walt in attempting to become the first home winners of “Africa’s Major” since Trevor Immelman in 2007.

The most recent list of players announced also includes American Brooks Koepka, winner of the recent Turkish Airlines Open on the European Tour.

“I am very pleased with the players we have been able to confirm from the Race to Dubai,” said Nedbank Golf Challenge Tournament Director Alastair Roper.

“We have some of the most exciting young players in the game coming to Sun City. And our whole intention of including qualification via the Race to Dubai’s final rankings was to get the most in-form players on the European Tour, which we’ve achieved.

“On the new list of 14 players we have announced, 13 will be playing in their first Nedbank Golf Challenge, which is also a reflection of the new generation of players we’ve been able to secure. And we have 14 countries represented, which is a truly global field.”

The field’s highest ranked player on the world rankings is Germany’s Martin Kaymer at 12^th in the world.

The field also includes half the victorious European Ryder Cup team as well as three Major winners and three former world number ones.

The Gary Player Country Club course is primed to welcome the 2014 field. “We’ve had some good consistent rains over the last few days, which is perfect for the golf course at this time,” said Antonie Els, the Director of Golf at Sun City.

“It’s exactly what we needed in terms of gaining consistency in the length of the rough, and just the general final touches the course needs before this year’s tournament.” 

NEDBANK GOLF CHALLENGE CONFIRMED PLAYERS

Thomas Bjørn (Denmark)
Martin Kaymer (Germany)
Lee Westwood (England)
Charl Schwartzel (South Africa)
Victor Dubuisson (France)
Jamie Donaldson (Wales)
Stephen Gallacher (Scotland)
Dawie van der Walt (South Africa)
Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand)
Luke Donald (England)
Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain)
Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand)
Ross Fisher (England)
Kevin Na (United States)
Tim Clark (South Africa)
Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa)
Marcel Siem (Germany)
Joost Luiten (Netherlands)
Brooks Koepka (United States)
Shane Lowry (Ireland)
Marc Warren (Scotland)
George Coetzee (South Africa)
Tommy Fleetwood (England)
Danny Willett (England)
Alexander Lévy (France)
Danie van Tonder (South Africa)
Mikko Ilonen (Finland)
Pablo Larrazabal (Spain)
Jonas Blixt (Sweden)
 
BY THE NUMBERS
Past Champions (3):
Thomas Bjørn – 2013
Martin Kaymer – 2012
Lee Westwood – 2010, 2011
 
Major Champions (3)
Martin Kaymer – 2010 PGA Championship, 2014 US Open
Charl Schwartzel – 2011 Masters
Louis Oosthuizen – 2010 Open Championship
 
2014 European Ryder Cup players (6)
Thomas Bjørn
Martin Kaymer
Lee Westwood
Victor Dubuisson
Jamie Donaldson
Stephen Gallacher
 
Former World Number Ones (3)
Martin Kaymer
Luke Donald
Lee Westwood
 
Countries Represented (14)
Denmark, Germany, England, South Africa, France, Wales, Scotland, Thailand, Spain, United States, Netherlands, Ireland, Finland, Sweden