Is Tommy Fleetwood the man to beat at Nedbank Golf Challenge?

Will England’s Tommy Fleetwood make it three in a row or will one of the Americans such as Justin Thomas or Max Homa, first-time visitors to Sun City and “Africa’s Major”, walk away with the spoils and the $1,025-million winners’ cheque?

That is the big question ahead of the start on Thursday of this year edition of the Nedbank Golf Challenge, the penultimate event on the DP World Tour calendar for 2023.

Fleetwood won at Sun City in 2019 and 2022 (there were no tournaments in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid) and goes into the event in good form, having finished sixth at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in mid-September and doing well for the European team at the Ryder Cup early last month.

He’s enjoyed playing the Gary Player Country Club in the past and will fancy his chances of a three-peat.

American stars

Other European Ryder Cup players who’ll be hoping to win include Robert MacIntyre, Nicolai Hojgaard and Justin Rose while DP World Tour regulars like Ryan Fox, Adrian Meronk, Francesco Molinari and Victor Perez should not be discounted.

Homa, who starred for the US team at the Ryder Cup, is ranked eighth in the world and is coming off a good season, which earlier included a win on the PGA Tour at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Thomas, a former two-time PGA Championship winner, is looking to win for the first time since his last Major triumph last year. He has shown decent form recently and will be out to emulate the last American to win the tournament, Jim Furyk, in 2006.

Furyk also won 2005, with the only other Americans to lift the trophy being Corey Pavin in 1995, Raymond Floyd in 1982 and Johnny Miller in 1981.

SA players

Branden Grace, who now plays on the LIV Golf Tour and winner of the Nedbank Golf Challenge in 2017, is back this year and will possibly lead the South African charge.

Grace has been given a special invitation to play this year and he’ll be joined in the field by only five other South Africans, none of whom have been in particularly good form of late, but have qualified to tee it up in the Pilanesberg.

Current SA Open champion Thriston Lawrence though could be one to watch ahead of his trying to defend the South African national open title at Blair Atholl at the end of the month.

The other locals in the field are Ockie Strydom, Zander Lombard, Hennie du Plessis and Louis de Jager.

England’s Lee Westwood holds the course record of 62, recorded on route to winning the second of his three titles at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in 2011. The course, one of the longest on the DP World Tour, measures over 7,000m from the tips and is par-72.