Nedbank Golf Challenge

The Nedbank Golf Challenge, previously known as the Million Dollar Challenge, is an annual men's professional golf tournament played at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, North West province, South Africa. It was first played in 1981 and takes place towards the end of the year, in November or December.

Nedbank Golf Challenge
Tournament information
LocationSun City, South Africa
Established1981 (1981)
Course(s)Gary Player CC
Par72
Length7,831 yards (7,161 m)
Tour(s)European Tour
Sunshine Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fundUS$7,500,000
Month playedNovember
Tournament record score
Aggregate263 Ernie Els (1999)
To par−25 Ernie Els (1999)
Current champion
Tommy Fleetwood
Gary Player
C.C.
Location in South Africa

For many years the tournament was a small-field invitational stroke play event with typically 12 players competing. Since it became a European Tour event in 2013, the field size has increased, to 30 from 2013 to 2015 and to 72 in 2016. Originally it was not an official event for any of the major tours.

From 2010 to 2012, a separate tournament for senior golfers was held concurrently.

History

The first tournament was played from 31 December 1981 to 4 January 1982 with a field of 5: Seve Ballesteros, Johnny Miller, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Lee Trevino. Ballesteros and Miller tied on 277 with Nicklaus a stroke behind after he missed a putt at the final hole. Miller beat Ballesteros at the ninth hole of a sudden-death playoff. The pair played the 16th to 18th holes three times before Ballesteros three-putted. Miller won $500,000 out of total prize money of $1,000,000.[1]

The date was moved to early December 1982 for the second tournament, with 10 players competing. Total prize money remained at $1,000,000 with $300,000 for the winner and $50,000 for the 10th player. There was another playoff, with Raymond Floyd beating Craig Stadler at the fourth extra hole.[2] The format remained unchanged from 1983 to 1986 with the event played in early December each year.

The 1987 event introduced a winner-take-all $1,000,000 first prize, although there were additional prizes for the lowest round each day. The field was reduced to 8 player. Ian Woosnam won by 4 strokes and took the first million dollar prize in golf.[3] The winner-take-all idea was dropped for 1988, although the first prize remained as $1,000,000. The format remained largely unchanged through 1999, with the first prize always $1,000,000, although the field increased from 8 to 10 in 1989 and to 12 from 1993. There were two playoffs during this period. In 1996 Colin Montgomerie beat Ernie Els with a birdie at the third extra hole, while in 1998 Nick Price beat Tiger Woods with a birdie at the fifth extra hole.

In 2006, the tournament carried World Rankings points for the first time since 1999.[4] In 2013 it was expanded to 30 players: the defending tournament champion; the top 10 PGA Tour FedEx Cup players, the top 10 European Tour Race to Dubai players; the Sunshine Tour, Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winners; the Alfred Dunhill Championship winner; and the top 5 South African players in the World Rankings.

From 2000 to 2002 the first prize was increased to US$2 million, but the following year the winner's share of the total prize fund was reduced from more than half to around 30%. The standard winner's share on the PGA Tour is 18% and on the European Tour it is 16.67%. In 2006 the winner received $1.2 million out of a total purse of US$4.385 million, so the prize distribution is now not far from the normal pattern for a professional tournament, once allowance is made for the small size of the field. That US$2 million first prize remained the largest in professional golf, but was matched in 2011 by the Lake Malaren Shanghai Masters.

The 2016 event was part of the European Tour Final Series, replacing the BMW Masters, while in 2017 the event was part of the new Rolex Series. Since 2016, the field of 72 consists of the top 64 available players from the current year Race to Dubai standings, the defending champion, the winner of the Sunshine Tour order of merit from previous year, and tournament invitations.

Winners
Sunshine Tour and European Tour (Rolex Series) 2019 onwards
European Tour (Rolex Series) 2017–2018
European Tour (Final Series) 2016
Sunshine Tour and European Tour 2013–2015
Sunshine Tour 2006–2012
Unofficial event 1981–2005
#YearDate
(Rd4)		WinnerCountryScoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up Purse ($)Winner's
share ($)
Nedbank Golf Challenge
39th201917 NovTommy Fleetwood England276−12Playoff Marcus Kinhult7,500,0002,500,000
38th201811 NovLee Westwood (3) England273−153 strokes Sergio García7,500,0001,250,000
37th201712 NovBranden Grace South Africa277−111 stroke Scott Jamieson7,500,0001,166,660
36th201613 NovAlex Norén Sweden274−146 strokes Wang Jeung-hun7,000,0001,166,660
35th20156 DecMarc Leishman Australia269−196 strokes Henrik Stenson6,500,0001,250,000
34th20147 DecDanny Willett England270−184 strokes Ross Fisher6,500,0001,250,000
33rd20138 DecThomas Bjørn Denmark268−202 strokes Jamie Donaldson
Sergio García		6,500,0001,250,000
32nd20122 DecMartin Kaymer Germany280−82 strokes Charl Schwartzel5,000,0001,250,000
31st20114 DecLee Westwood (2) England273−152 strokes Robert Karlsson5,000,0001,250,000
30th20105 DecLee Westwood England271−178 strokes Tim Clark5,000,0001,250,000
29th20096 DecRobert Allenby Australia277−11Playoff Henrik Stenson4,385,0001,200,000
28th20087 DecHenrik Stenson Sweden267−219 strokes Kenny Perry4,385,0001,200,000
27th20072 DecTrevor Immelman South Africa272−161 stroke Justin Rose4,385,0001,200,000
26th20063 DecJim Furyk (2) United States276−122 strokes Henrik Stenson4,385,0001,200,000
25th20054 DecJim Furyk United States282−6Playoff Darren Clarke
Retief Goosen
Adam Scott		4,060,0001,200,000
24th20045 DecRetief Goosen South Africa281−76 strokes Stuart Appleby
Ernie Els		4,060,0001,200,000
23rd200330 NovSergio García (2) Spain274−14Playoff Retief Goosen4,060,0001,200,000
22nd20021 DecErnie Els (3) South Africa267−218 strokes Colin Montgomerie4,060,0002,000,000
21st20012 DecSergio García Spain268−20Playoff Ernie Els4,060,0002,000,000
20th20003 DecErnie Els (2) South Africa268−20Playoff Lee Westwood4,060,0002,000,000
Million Dollar Challenge
19th19995 DecErnie Els South Africa263−255 strokes Colin Montgomerie2,500,0001,000,000
18th19986 DecNick Price (3) Zimbabwe273−15Playoff Tiger Woods2,500,0001,000,000
17th19977 DecNick Price (2) Zimbabwe275−131 stroke Ernie Els
Davis Love III		2,500,0001,000,000
16th19961 DecColin Montgomerie Scotland274−14Playoff Ernie Els2,500,0001,000,000
15th19953 DecCorey Pavin United States276−125 strokes Nick Price2,500,0001,000,000
14th19944 DecNick Faldo England272−163 strokes Nick Price2,500,0001,000,000
13th19935 DecNick Price Zimbabwe264−2412 strokes Mark McNulty2,500,0001,000,000
12th19926 DecDavid Frost (3) South Africa276−124 strokes John Cook2,500,0001,000,000
11th19918 DecBernhard Langer (2) Germany272−165 strokes Mark Calcavecchia2,500,0001,000,000
10th19909 DecDavid Frost (2) South Africa284−41 stroke José María Olazábal2,500,0001,000,000
9th198910 DecDavid Frost South Africa276−123 strokes Scott Hoch2,500,0001,000,000
8th19884 DecFulton Allem South Africa278−101 stroke Don Pooley1,500,0001,000,000
7th19876 DecIan Woosnam Wales274−144 strokes Nick Faldo1,000,0001,000,000
6th19867 DecMark McNulty Zimbabwe282−63 strokes Lanny Wadkins1,000,000300,000
5th19858 DecBernhard Langer West Germany278−102 strokes Lanny Wadkins1,000,000300,000
4th19849 DecSeve Ballesteros (2) Spain279−96 strokes Nick Faldo1,000,000300,000
3rd19834 DecSeve Ballesteros Spain274−145 strokes Nick Faldo
David Graham
Fuzzy Zoeller		1,000,000300,000
2nd19825 DecRaymond Floyd United States280−8Playoff Craig Stadler1,000,000300,000
1st19813 JanJohnny Miller United States277−11Playoff Seve Ballesteros1,000,000500,000

The 1981 event was played from 31 December 1981 to 3 January 1982.

As of 2009, the leading money winner in the event is Ernie Els with winnings of $7,971,000.[5]

References
  1. "Floyd wins Sun City play-off". The Glasgow Herald. 4 January 1982. p. 14.
  2. "Miller's rich reward". The Glasgow Herald. 6 December 1982. p. 16.
  3. "Wizard Woosie scoops million dollar jackpot". The Glasgow Herald. 7 December 1987. p. 9.
  4. "World Rankings are refined, but still confusing". Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
  5. All-time Money Earners

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.