Ernie Els, it was, who once caught some flak for how he saw this time of year as a time to load up on greenbacks. As the Big Easy put it, "the end of the year, you've got the wheelbarrow out . . . you want to cash in a little bit". As it happens, the South African has been forced to miss this week's Nedbank Challenge at Sun City due to injury, a field limited to just 30 players who have a gilt-edged opportunity to grab an early advantage on the European Tour's order of merit.
With a purse of €6 million, the Nedbank will indeed give players a chance to take out the wheelbarrow and walk away with some serious amount of greenbacks. Shane Lowry, who remains at 21st in the latest world rankings, is the lone Irishman in the field and finishes off his year's work in the tournament known as "Africa's Major".
Small field
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Except, this is the last time it will be played with such a small field. In 2016, it will be staged a month earlier and it will form part of the European Tour’s “Final Series” in the run-up to the Race to Dubai.
As such, it will be increased from a 30-man field to a 72-man field and will also have the unique position of counting twice on the 2016 order of merit. So, whoever wins this week will return next November as defending champion.
“If you think about it, this is the end of an era,” remarked Jaco Van Zyl, one of those South Africans in the field who grew up on the glamour associated with the then invitational which has now expanded into a tournament which counts on the European Tour and also offering world ranking points.
Els's place had been given to Charl Schwartzel – but his win in the Alfred Dunhill Links meant he qualified by right, so the final tournament invite was yesterday given to Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez to complete the field.
Whilst Lowry – who has been confirmed on the European team for the EurAsia Cup in Malaysia in January – is competing in the no-cut event with a chance to earn precious Ryder Cup points in his bid to make a debut in that match against the USA in Hazeltine next September, two other Irish golfers will be competing in the Australian PGA at Royal Pines.
Paul Dunne and Kevin Phelan, who both missed the cut in the Alfred Dunhill championship, have travelled on to Australia's Gold Coast for the championship, which also forms part of the European Tour.
Pádraig Harrington, meanwhile, is rehabilitating from knee surgery and plans to return to tour life in Hawaii in January on the PGA Tour. The 44-year-old three-time Major champion – who suffered a meniscus tear in his right knee when playing tennis with his children in the autumn – underwent surgery last week and plans to resume tournament play at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua before moving on to the next week's Sony Open at Waialae.
Harrington chose to continue playing and to work on building up the muscle rather than undergo surgery immediately. The Dubliner intends to focus on the PGA Tour for the early part of the year, with those events in Hawaii set to be followed in February by a run that takes in the Phoenix Open, the Pebble Beach pro-am and the LA Open at Riviera.
Currently 142nd in the world rankings, Harrington – winner of the Honda Classic back in March – will need another tournament win if he is to earn an invite into the US Masters in Augusta next April.
