Ernie Els confirms Alfred Dunhill spot
26 November 2009
Ernie Els has confirmed that he will tee it up in December's Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek in Mpumalanga, which will be his only appearance on the Sunshine Tour this summer.
Els, who at number 17 in the world rankings is the highest ranked South African, confirmed his place this week in the €1-million tournament that runs from 10 to 13 December. The event is co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and the European Tour.
Els will be joined in the field by Ryder Cup star Thomas Bjørn, a nine-time champion on the European Tour. The Dane has 15 professional wins in total and has twice tied for runner-up in the Open Championship, and once in the PGA Championship.
Ryder Cup player
Two other Ryder Cup players, Paul McGinley and David Howell, will also be in the line-up.
McGinley, famously, sank the winning putt for the European Ryder Cup team in their 2002 showdown against the USA. He has claimed nine professional titles in his career.
Howell was previously ranked inside the world's top 10 in 2006, but his ranking has slipped in recent years. He has won five titles during his professional career.
Defending champion
Richard Sterne will be back to defend his title. His victory in the 2008 event was one of three that he enjoyed during the year, all of them in events co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Sunshine Tour: the Joburg Open in January, and the Alfred Dunhill Championships and South African Open on successive weekends in December.
After missing the Alfred Dunhill Championship last year, Els returns to an event in which he boasts an impressive record of one win and three top-10 finishes in the last five years.
He finished the current season on the European Tour in 11th place on the money list, including top-10 finishes The Open Championship at Turnberry and the US PGA Championship at the Hazeltine National Golf Club.
Runner-up finishes
Although he has failed to win a title this year, Els came close to victory when he was beaten by a single stroke by Phil Mickelson in the WGC–HSBC Champions in China at the beginning of November, and he also tied for second in The Barclays on the PGA Tour in late August.
With Els in the field, the Championship welcomes back five former champions at Leopard Creek, including Sterne (2008), South Africa's Charl Schwartzel (2005), Spain's Alvaro Quiros (2006) and Englishman John Bickerton (2007).
The Alfred Dunhill Championship will be the first event counting towards the European Tour's 2010 Race to Dubai. Leopard Creek, the venue for the event, is South Africa's top ranked golf course.
SAinfo reporter
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