Nedbank Golf Challenge: Field, tee times, and groups for the DP World Tour event

Tommy Fleetwood wins the 2022 Nedbank Golf Challenge.

The DP World Tour heads to South Africa’s Sun City for the Nedbank Golf Challenge but who is playing and what are the tee times?

South African sport is riding on a high once more with the Springbok’s going ‘bok-to-bok’ to defend their Rugby World Cup title in Paris with a single-point victory over the All Blacks.

It was also just the one stroke that earned Englishman Tommy Fleetwood victory in the last of his six European Tour wins at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. One year on and the Ryder Cup hero is now eying up a third consecutive victory on South African soil as Gary Player prepares to welcome a stellar field back to Sun City for the ‘African Major’ on Nov 9-12.

The Nedbank Golf Challenge is one of the highlights of the South African sporting calendar with Fleetwood’s name etched on the trophy alongside some of the game’s greats including home hero Ernie Els, who already has a hatrick of triumphs at the event.

You only have to scroll through the list of past champions to gauge an idea of the playing pedigree required to emerge victorious at the Gary Player Country Club.

Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Nick Price, Ian Woosam, Nick Faldo, Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Sergio Garcia Henrik Stenson, Martin Kaymer, and Danny Willet – and that’s just the Major winners!

Fleetwood pipped Ryan Fox in a thrilling battle down the stretch in 2022 to defend his title. It was an emotional victory for the Englishman whose mother had passed away earlier in the year.

He said: “One of my biggest goals for a while has been to win with my whole family here. Frankie (his son) is always saying I never win anything and brings medals home from school for me. I’ve wanted to win with them here for such a long time.”

Where is the Nedbank Golf Challenge being played?

The Gary Player Country Club in Sun City has been host to the Nedbank Golf Challenge since 1981 and is acknowledged to be one of the most demanding tests of championship golf on the African continent.

Player has designed almost 400 championship golf courses across the world, but the Country Club is the only one to officially carry the nine-time Major winners’ name.

The par-72 course, measuring over 7000 meters from the championship tees, was the first course in South Africa to be constructed to USGA specifications and is famed for its dramatic backdrops of the Pilanesberg Mountains and spectacular indigenous vegetation that line the fairways.

Englishman Lee Westwood holds the course record, shooting a ten-under 62 on route to claiming the second of his three titles at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in 2011.

Who is playing in the Nedbank Golf Challenge?

The Nedbank Golf Challenge features a limited field of 66 players, comprising the leading 60 golfers from the DP World Tour Race to Dubai Rankings in addition to a select few invitational spots.

Six of the top 10 ranked players will tee it up in Sun City including Adrian Meronk (3rd), Ryan Fox (4th), Victor Perex (5th), Sami Valimaki (7th), Robert MacIntyre (8th), and Alexander Bjork (9th).

American Ryder Cup representatives Max Homa, and Justin Thomas are the headline names making their debuts in South Africa. The duo, who secured a respectable five points out in Rome will compete once more against European counterparts Justin Rose, Robert MacIntyre, Nicolai Hojgaard, and defending champion Tommy Fleetwood.

Home favorite and 2017 champion Branden Grace will also line up in the high-quality field after receiving an invitation. The Pretorian player, who has played in all 14 LIV Golf events this season, is due to feature alongside fellow countrymen Thirston Lawrence, Zander Lombard, and Sunshine Tour Order of Merit winner, Ockie Strydom.

Who will win the Nedbank Golf Challenge?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, defending Champion Tommy Fleetwood is an early favorite with the bookmakers, priced as short as 7/1, with American Max Homa, the OGWR highest-ranked player in the field, also heavily fancied at 8/1.

Sun City sits 348 m above sea level, providing players with some assistance in the distance department for this 7,855-yard track. Missing the fairway makes it challenging to find the greens around the Gary Player Course with the rough notoriously difficult. So while distance off the tee is important, equally so is accuracy and scrambling.

Adrian Meronk (16/1) leads the strokes gained statistics off the tee, with Alexander Bjork (35/1) topping strokes gained from approach play, also sitting 4th on the putting leaderboard.

Selected others

Justin Thomas 14/1

Ryan Fox 14/1

Justin Rose 16/1

Branden Grace 20/1

Nicolai Hojgaard 25/1

Robert MacIntyre 30/1

Yannik Paul 35/1

Victor Perez 45/1

Marcel Siem 55/1

Francesco Molinari 125/1

*Prices reflect an average across bookmakers before the first round.

How much prize money is on offer at the 2023 Nedbank Golf Challenge?

The total purse of $6 million is one of the richest in the game, with 2023’s champion receiving $1,020,000.

How can I watch the Nedbank Golf Challenge?

UK viewers can catch all the action on Sky Sports Golf

All times GMT

Thursday, October 26: Sky Sports Golf, 08.30

Friday, October 27 Sky Sports Golf, 08.30

Saturday, October 28: Sky Sports Golf, 08.30

Sunday, October 29: Sky Sports Golf, 07.30

US viewers can catch all the action on Golf Channel

All times EST

Thursday, October 26: Golf Channel, 03.30

Friday, October 27: Golf Channel, 03.30

Saturday, October 28: Golf Channel, 03.30

Sunday, October 29: Golf Channel, 02.30

Nedbank Golf Challenge 2023: Tee times and groups

Tees times and groupings can be found on the DP World Tour website.

DP World Tour – Race to Dubai standings

Rory McIlroy currently leads the Race to Dubai rankings with 5,164.47 points. Rahm is in second with 3,081.94, having played seven events to McIlroy’s nine, closely followed by Adrian Meronk on 2,775.19 points.

Ryan Fox (2,773.40), Victor Perez (2,050.32), Min Woo Lee (2,003.03), Sami Valimaki (1,961.99), Robert MacIntyre (1,925.06), Alexander Björk (1,916.63), and Viktor Hovland (1,884.58) round out the top-10.

After the Nedbank Golf Challenge, the DP World Tour heads to Dubai for its final stop where 2023’s ‘Race to Dubai’ winner will be crowned following the Tour Championship on 16-19 November.

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About the author

Ross Tugwood
Golf Equipment Writer

Ross Tugwood is a golf equipment writer for todays-golfer.com, specializing in data, analytics, science, and innovation. He’s also an expert in golf apparel and has a keen interest in sustainability.

Ross is passionate about optimizing sports performance and has a decade of experience working with professional athletes and coaches for British Athletics, the UK Sports Institute, and Team GB.

Ross uses a Cobra King SZ Speedzone driver, Titleist TSi2 3-Wood, TaylorMade Sim2 Rescue, Callaway Apex Pro irons (4-PW), Cleveland 588 RTX wedges (52°, 58°), TaylorMade Spider Ex putter, and a TaylorMade Tour Response golf ball.