FRIDAY, 1.00PM:
THE South African PGA Tour has been given a R100-million boost for the next five years, by newest sponsors Vodacom. This will result in an increase of 33% in prize money in the winter season of the tour.
Tour commissioner Arnold Mentz said: “I want to get away from this idea of development and bring much more of the junior perspective to our drive to develop the game among young people across the spectrum.”
The sponsorship will also go towards a six-event Vodacom Series — the first event starts at Humewood in Port Elizabeth on June 25.
The Vodacom sponsorship has ruffled feathers in the cellular telephone industry — rival MTN claims to be sole sponsor of the SA Open, part of the PGA tour.
SPORT BRIEFS
SONN RISES WESTERN Province Cricket Association vice-president Percy Sonn is moving up the ranks, to take over current union president Clem Druker’s place, when Druker retires on June 18. Sonn’s election is uncontested, but three nominations have been submitted for the position of vice-president.
WOMEN’S GOLF SOUTH AFRICAN golfers Sanet Marais and Wendy Warrington made it through the cut-offs to take part in the 32-player matchplay section of the British Amateur Women’s Open in Scotland next week. Marais finished 12th and Warrington finished 17th in the 36-hole strokeplay section earlier this week.
FIFA RANKINGS SOUTH AFRICA, jubilant after beating Zaire 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier last weekend, is still rated a lowly 25 in the world football rankings, positioned below Morocco (19), Zambia (23) and Tunisia (24). In the top five, Brazil sit at the top, followed by Germany, Denmark, France and Spain.
COMRADES MARATHON THE Comrades Marathon takes place on Monday June 16, the Youth Day holiday in SA. ZA*NOW will bring you hourly reports from 8am until all the gold medallists are home.
US OPEN GOLF ZIMBABWEAN Mark McNulty is currently third on the leaderboard in the US Open Golf tournament, after carding 67 in the first round on Thursday. He is behind leaders Scotsman Colin Montgomerie (65) and Hal Sutton (66). Fellow Zimbabwean Nick Price carded 70.