The 2008 South African Open, which gets under way at Pearl Valley, near Franschhoek, on Thursday, will boast its strongest field to date as three Major champions and four Ryder Cup players are among those vying for a share of the R1-million purse.
Ernie Els, a three-time Major winner, Retief Goosen, a two-time Major winner, and Trevor Immleman, the reigning Masters champion, will head the field along with Henrik Stenson from Sweden, Justin Rose and Lee Westood from England and Darren Clarke from Northern Ireland.
A total of 35 countries will be represented at this year’s edition, which has drawn entries from as far afield as Iceland, with Birgir Hafthorsson joining the field for the second consecutive year.
There will also be several golfers hoping to celebrate their new European Tour status with a strong showing at the Pearl Valley Golf Estates. These include South Africa’s Branden Grace and Zimbabwean Marc Cayeux, who both secured their playing privileges on the 2009 European Tour at the recent qualifying finals in Spain, as well as Scotland’s Andrew Coltart, who finds himself back on the Tour after several years.
By Wednesday almost all of the players had arrived and Els, who has already won the SA Open title four times, was out on the range hitting balls after flying in from the United States over the weekend.
Els will be going out in search of a fifth title when the world’s second oldest open starts on Thursday. ”I won my fourth South African Open title at Humewood a couple of years ago and would love to win a fifth title here,” said Els.
”It would sure be nice to round-off my golfing year on a high note. We’ll soon see.”
The organisers have billed this year’s version of the SA Open as a ”celebration of golf” and have secured the services of Ivor Robson, the official starter of the Open Championship since 1975. He will bring the most recognisable voice in golf to the first tee of the South African Open for the first time.
A welcome addition to the SA Open will be Durban-born Rory Sabbatini, a world top-tenner last year. The popular Sabbatini, a four times US PGA Tour winner, has in the past always given the country’s national open event a miss.
David Spencer, Leisurecorp’s golf chief executive, said he was expected a record crowd.
”Els, Goosen, Rose, Westwood, all the big guns are here and when you throw Sabbatini into the mix, who has incredibly never played in the South African Open before, you have the recipe for a thrilling four days of golf. — Sapa