THURSDAY, 1.15PM:
US OPEN champion Ernie Els, US PGA champion Davis Love and British Open champion Justin Leonard are the three major winners among the 10 players who have accepted the invitations so far to play in the 12-man Nedbank Million Dollar golf challenge at the Gary Player Country Club course at Sun City, from December 4-7.
The other players are defending champion Colin Montgomerie of Scotland, Zimbabwean Nick Price, Nick Faldo of England, Welshman Ian Woosnam, Americans Tom Lehman and Mark O’Meara and Bernhard Langer of Germany.
“With three of the major winners on the field, we should see another very close contest,” said Tournament chairman Tobin Prior. He said the presence of Love and Leonard will ensure the success of the tournament.
The remaining two players will be announced within a week. Swede Jesper Parnevik, Japanese Jumbo Ozaki, American Fred Couples and Canadian Open winner Steve Jones are believed to be on the invitation list.
SPORT BRIEFS
AUSSIES WIN AGAIN TRANSVAAL lost their one-day cricket match against Western Australia by 34 runs at the University of Western Australia on Wednesday. Australia chose to bat first and scored 276 for seven in their 45 overs before dismissing their opponents for 242 in 43,3 overs.
FIRST FOREIGNER APPLIES FORMER Autralian director of coaching and technical advisor Dick Marks is the first overseas coach to apply for the Springbok rugby coaching job. Boland’s Nick Mallett has forwaded his CV while Natal’s Ian McIntosh is still in two minds. “I haven’t taken any decision yet. On the other hand, applications only close on Friday,” said McIntosh. It is believed that if McIntosh does not apply, Mallett’s appointment could be a formality. Yagya Sakier, who assisted Mallett with the Emerging Boks, has also applied.
DAMP DRAW IN EL The three-day cricket friendly match between Border and Western Province ended in a damp draw a day early at Buffalo Park in East London on Thursday. At the close, Border totalled 157/5 in their first innings in reply to Province’s 246.
SA REFS FOR OZ TOUR TWO South African refeeres, Andre Watson of Gauteng and Tappe Henning of Northern Transvaal, will handle Test matches during the Australian Rugby tour to Britain in November.
BADMINTON NATIONALS LENA FOURIE won three titles at the South African badminton finals in Pretoria on Tuesday. In the singles, she beat Megan Neale 11-7 11-2. She then teamed up with Tracy Thompson to beat Linda Montignies and Monic Till 15-8 15-2 in the doubles. She then won the mixed doubles with Johan Kleingeld 15-4 15-11 against Gavin Polmans and Till.
John Kleingeld beat Neale Woodroffe 13-15 15-5 15-11 in the men’s singles final. Woodroffe and Warren Parsons beat Kleingeld and Polmans 10-15 15-9 15-10 in the doubles.
SA DARTS TEAM TO OZ THE South African Darts team to compete in the World Cup from October 1-6 in Perth will fly to Australia on Thursday. South Africa is due to host the 1999 World Cup in Durban.
THE TEAM:Trevor Johson (North Boland,captain), Roshan Silveraman (Natal Midlands), Wynand Havenga (West Coast), Mike Clifton-Smith (Durban Districts), Vannessa Jacobs (S Surburbs), and Karin Visser (Stellaland)