Race to Dubai leader Tommy Fleetwood has confirmed his participation in the Nedbank Golf Challenge, and will arrive in South Africa at a crucial point in his bid to be named European No 1.
The Englishman will tee it up in the penultimate event of the season from 9-12 November, as he aims to round off an outstanding season in style by topping the Race to Dubai Rankings.
The 26-year-old has been in red-hot form throughout the year and could make history at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City by becoming the first multiple winner on the Rolex Series – the European Tour’s premium category of eight tournaments on the Race to Dubai, all with a minimum prize fund of US$7-million.
Fleetwood started the season by clinching his second European Tour title at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, followed by runner-up finishes at the WGC-Mexico Championship and Shenzhen International, before he took the title at the HNA Open de France – the second Rolex Series event of the season. He has already entered the history books once this year, carding a course record 63 on the formidable Carnoustie during the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
He said: ‘The Nedbank Golf Challenge is a big event, and we all know what’s at stake at this stage of the season. I’ve said before that I would love to win the Race to Dubai, and a good result in South Africa could be very important heading into the last event.
‘This will be the fourth year in a row that I have played this tournament. It’s one that we always look forward to, and even more so this year.’
Fleetwood leads an impressive field in Sun City that includes the defending champion, Sweden’s Alex Noren, who is also bidding for a second Rolex Series title after emerging victorious at the BMW PGA Championship in May.
They will be joined by Ryder Cup Captain and 2014 Nedbank Golf Challenge winner, Thomas Bjørn, South African Major winner Louis Oosthuizen, who claimed the greatest win of his career at The Open Championship at St Andrews in 2010, and another former Nedbank Golf Challenge winner – 2016 Open Champion, Henrik Stenson.
