Andy Capostagno Golf
The finest tribute that anyone could hand to the Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge is that since South Africa emerged from international isolation, it has got better. That is no small feat. Consider the crowds who used to flock to Newlands for the traditional festive season Currie Cup cricket match between Western Province and Transvaal. Consider also the house-full signs that went up every time Northern Transvaal played a rugby match against Province. Where are those crowds now? Most are sat quietly at home, channel surfing with their TV remotes.
In its 18th year the Million is expecting to have to close the gates on capacity crowds of 20E000 per day. The rest will have to channel surf, although it has to be said that sipping beer in an air-conditioned room is a much more comfortable option than walking the course at the Gary Player Country Club, where temperatures regularly climb into the high 30s.
The reason for such crowds is that there is more interest in the Million now, when it attracts most of the World’s top 10 players on merit, than there was in the dark days of the early Eighties when the likes of Telly Savalas and James Garner teed it up with Seve Ballesteros and Johnny Miller in a misguided attempt to marry sport and show business.
This year’s field has only been marginally dented by the withdrawal of Davis Love III. His replacement, Tom Watson, was one of the few who resisted the lure of the tainted dollar in the Eighties and as the rumours persist that he is on less than amicable terms with the tournament’s host, Gary Player, we could be in for some fun.
The Country Club course is traditionally closed two weeks before the Million, but a set of circumstances forced an earlier closure this year. Firstly, the decision to reseed the neighbouring Lost City course with kikuyu grass meant that the golfing traffic which would normally have gone to the desert-style layout was redirected to Country Club.
In addition there was no rain at all in the Pilanesberg between May and October. Sun City has a remarkable irrigation system, but as anyone who has ever tried to grow pansies will tell you, there ain’t no substitute for rain.
Fortunately the elements have fallen into line of late, too much so in some cases, and the battle now will be to get the rough down to manageable proportions. The last time it was really brutal was in 1995 when Corey Pavin gave hope to all the short hitters in the world, winning the tournament by keeping the ball in play and laughing at the antics of the big hitters wafting away amongst the flora and fauna.
The biggest hitter of them all is here this year in the person of Tiger Woods and it is testimony to the quality of the rest of the field that we have not yet been submerged by “Tiger-mania”. The smart money may yet go on Tiger, but even he does not win every time he pegs it up and there is not a man in the field who cannot win. Even Germany’s Bernhard Langer, an invitee for a record 13th time, has the game to forget a poor season and win the Million for the third time.
It goes without saying, of course, that most of the crowd will be watching Ernie Els. Els lost by a shot to Nick Price last year and in a play-off to Colin Montgomerie in 1996. But those expecting him to go one better this year are neglecting two things.
Firstly, he has not been the same player since suffering a back injury early in the year and secondly he is due to get married on New Year’s Eve. As one who did the same thing last New Year’s Eve, I can tell you that he will have other things on his mind than shooting the lowest score at Sun City.
ENDS