It's that week again, the Challenge weekend where 30 world stars are at the Nedbank Challenge in Sun City, South Africa playing for $6.5m and 18 more are at Tiger's, this year called the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge in One Thousand Oaks, California for another $3.5m, pretty good cash for what used to be " the silly season" !
Along with a European/Asian Tour tournament in Hong Kong this week there are still spots for the Masters up for grabs, as the world's top 50 will get an invite, and the prize money and points now available at Sun City and at the Northwestern make these events very important.
Sun City
US Open Champion Justin Rose is hoping to bring down the curtain on the most successful year of his career with a victory at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
Born in Johannesburg, the Englishman has strong ties with South Africa with some of his closest family still living in the country where he won his professional title at the 2002 Nashua Masters.
Rose is always a popular figure with South African fans and he will be given a hero’s reception at the Gary Player Country Club when he is announced on the first tee as the reigning US Open Champion.
“South Africa’s very close to my heart, not only because I was born here, but also because I have a lot of family here. My brother lives in Joburg and my mom lives down in George. I haven’t seen them all for quite a while and from that perspective it’s wonderful to catch up.
Rose will no doubt be joined in the mix by the likes of Henrik Stenson, Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Luke Donald as 30 of the world’s very best players do battle for the US$6.5 million prize fund on offer at Sun City.
Stenson, of course, is the world’s form player who is enjoying a run of form that saw him become the first man in history to win The European Tour’s Race to Dubai and the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup in the same season.
The Swede is also a former champion of the Nedbank Golf Challenge having lifted the title in 2008 and would love to add to that, especially as the tournament is featuring on The European Tour for the first time in its illustrious 33-year history.
“It’s an exciting time for the tournament with the changes in place and the field increasing to 30 players and now being a part of The Race to Dubai. The increase in the field brings more guys into it obviously and makes it more difficult to win given the quality of the field but I am sure all the guys are looking forward to the chance.
Of all the players in the field, no-one has won this event more than Els. The big South African has registered a hat-trick of victories here (1999, 2000 and 2002) and remains the biggest draw in town for the huge galleries that will flock to the Gary Player Country Club this week.
Oosthuizen is looking ominous having finally shaken off the niggling back injury that has plagued his season, while Schwartzel and Donald still have the taste of victory in their mouths having respectively triumphed at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa and the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan.
Tigers Charity
The 2013 Northwestern Mutual World Challenge returns to Sherwood Country Club welcoming an elite 18-player field that will include host Tiger Woods, defending champion Graeme McDowell, 2013 PGA Championship winner Jason Dufner, 10 of the top 20 players in the FedExCup standings and an impressive roster of players from the 2013 Presidents Cup.
The Northwestern Mutual World Challenge is a four-round, 72-hole stoke-play event with a $3.5 million purse and players competing for a $1 million winner's check. The unique showcase, which awards Official World Golf Ranking points, will be held at the challenging par-72, 7,052-yard Sherwood Country Club for its 15th year. The 2013 field includes: Tiger Woods has won the World Challenge five times throughout his career. This year he won the Farmers Insurance Open, the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational, THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass and the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, finishing the season with five TOUR wins. The event also showcases top European players on TOUR such as 2012 defending World Challenge champion Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter. A fan favorite, McDowell won last year's event in an intense final round, defeating Keegan Bradley by three strokes. McDowell had an impressive 2013 season, most notably winning his second PGA TOUR victory at the RBC Heritage by defeating Webb Simpson in a sudden-death playoff. Rory McIlroy is fresh off his win at the Australian Open. and despite a poor season he continues to make his mark with a total of six PGA TOUR Lee Westwood's best finish this season came at The Open Championship where he finished tied for third, opening with rounds of 72-68-70 to carry a two-stroke lead into the final round. He finished four strokes behind champion Phil Mickelson. Ian Poulter ended the PGA Tour season strong with four top-10 finishes and has as usual been right in contention in the Race to Dubai Jason Dufner's biggest moment this season came at the PGA Championship when he defeated Jim Furyk by two shots at Oak Hill Country Club, earning his third career TOUR victory. Finishing the season at No. 6 in the FedExCup standings, Matt Kuchar has had a successful 2013 season, winning the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and the Memorial Tournament. Hunter Mahan has five career victories on the PGA TOUR, the last two coming during the 2012 season at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and the Shell Houston Open. Brandt Snedeker's biggest moment this season came when he claimed his sixth PGA TOUR title with his victory at the RBC Canadian Open, after trailing Hunter Mahan by eight strokes after the second round. . Zach Johnson has made his mark on the TOUR this season with eight top-10 finishes, including winning the 2013 BMW Championship at Conway Farms. Bubba Watson has four career victories on the PGA TOUR, the most notable being the 2012 Masters Tournament. This season Watson has had three top-10 finishes Rounding out this exceptional field are veterans Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker.In addition the World Challenge will feature two rising young stars, Keegan Bradley and Jason Day
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