First of all, big congratulations to Charl Schwartzel on a classy performance winning last week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.
This is a golf course and a tournament that I have a great deal of fondness for and Charl obviously does too because this was his fourth victory here. And at the age of 31 he becomes the youngest South African to reach 10 European Tour victories, beating my record by a year. That probably means I owe him a bottle of the good stuff! Charl’s had a bit of a lean spell this past 18 months, but we all know he’s too good a player to stay out of the winner’s circle for long. He’s been working super-hard on his game and this win is well deserved. Played 1, Won 1: That’s the way to start the new European Tour season.
And just briefly looking ahead to the other end of the season, you may have read that the Nedbank Golf Challenge has been announced as part of the European Tour’s elite Final Series in 2016. This is really positive news for South African golf and once again I send my congratulations to Alastair Roper and the team on everything they have achieved with this special tournament over the years. As I said before, I’m sorry I can’t be in Sun City for this week’s Nedbank, but in a strong field such as this I would need to be at 100 per cent physically in order to compete for the title and regrettably that’s not the case. The sensible course of action for me just now is getting the necessary rest and exercise so that I can be in good shape physically for the upcoming events in January. In the meantime, best wishes to everyone at Sun City this week for a successful tournament and I will certainly be catching the coverage on TV.
The same goes for all the players and fans attending the PGA TOUR Hero World Challenge, taking place at Albany (pictured above) in the Bahamas this week. It is a great event and something that Tiger and his Foundation team can be very proud of, with the event raising over $26m for youth charities since its inception in 1999. We are also very proud at Ernie Els Design that Albany is hosting the event, especially with such a talented field. It is a spectacular setting and I hope the players enjoy the course. Some of the guys like Justin Rose and Adam Scott will also have maybe an advantage as they play the course so often. It will also be interesting to see how the wind affects the play, with a weather front potentially moving through at the weekend that could change the wind direction and be a factor for the players.
Anyway, since my last report there are a couple of other things that caught my eye, among them the performance by South Africa’s Ulrich van den Berg who led the Q School to secure his card for the 2016 European Tour. It’s great to see Ulrich back in golf’s top tier, having lost his Tour card in tragic circumstances in 2007. Really well done to him.
Finally, on behalf of Els for Autism, I’d like to mention this week’s #GivingTuesday initiative, which enables people, charities and organisations all around the world to celebrate philanthropy and the spirit of giving back…and to tell the world about it and be part of a collective force for good. Please click here if you’d like to find out more.
Also, following on from another successful Golf Challenge Grand Finale in Las Vegas, please click here to watch a video which celebrates not only the work of Els for Autism, but also the inspiring people who’s lives we are helping to change for the better.
Okay, that’s about if for now. Follow me on Twitter @TheBig_Easy.
