The smooth-swinging South African will lead the home charge as he goes in search of his first Nedbank Golf Challenge title
The 2019 Nedbank Golf Challenge gets under way at Sun City tomorrow and here golf writer Jacques van der Westhuyzen picks five players he believes could go all the way and win Africa’s Major on Sunday.
Louis Oosthuizen
The smooth-swinging South African will lead the home charge as he goes in search of his first Nedbank Golf Challenge title.
The 37-year-old has had a decent year, with his best results coming at the HSBC Champions (third) and US Open (seventh).
Consistency has been lacking though, but if he gets it going he could be the man to beat.
He finished third last year on 11-under-par, four off winner Lee Westwood.
Erik van Rooyen
The 29-year-old, who has climbed to 51st in the world rankings, has enjoyed a fantastic season and he goes into this week’s event on the back of a strong finish in Turkey last week.
Van Rooyen shot 66 and 65 on the weekend to get himself into the play-off, where he ended up finishing tied-second.
He won the Scandinavian Invitation earlier this year for his breakthrough European Tour win and will tee it up tomorrow brimming with confidence.
Justin Harding
One of the world’s hot-shot players of 2019, the 29-year-old won the Qatar Masters earlier this year, while last season he won twice on the Sunshine Tour and twice in Asia.
He goes into this week’s event ranked 66th in the world.
He played at this year’s Masters where he finished tied 12th and also has numerous top 20s to his name on the PGA Tour this season.
A superb ball-striker and good putter, Harding was in contention in Turkey last week and will be out to shine this weekend.
Haotong Li
China’s top-ranked player hasn’t had the best of seasons but when he gets hot and the putter starts to work he can take any golf course apart.
The 24-year-old’s biggest win came at last year’s Dubai Desert Classic when he overcame Rory McIlroy in a thrilling finale for his second European Tour win.
A big hitter, his best showing at Sun City came last year when he finished in a tie for fifth on seven-under-par.
Matthew Fitzpatrick
The Englishman goes into the tournament on the back of some good form: Second at the Italian Open at the end of October and seventh at the HSBC Champions in China.
He’s currently fourth in the Race to Dubai standings.
A regular visitor to the NGC, the 25-year-old finished tied 27th last year, but he’s a multi-European Tour winner and will be confident.
