LIV Golf brings Major stars to SA fairways

South African golf fans starved of seeing big-name international stars on local fairways are in for a treat this week when the LIV Golf Tour heads to Steyn City in Joburg for the fifth tournament of the current season.

The last time so many Major winners were in action in South Africa together was in the heydays of the old “Million Dollar” at Sun City, though over the years Major winners have played in South Africa in various tournaments.

Here we think of Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Bernard Langer, Jose Maria Olazabal, Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk and the SA Major winners Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.

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Recent big names on South African fairways

In recent times Rory McIlroy played at the SA Open at Glendower in 2017, while Patrick Reed just recently featured in a few tournaments here, including at the SA Open in Stellenbosch.

South Africa’s recent Major winners, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen, have been regular returnees to home fairways when their schedules have allowed it and they, along with Dean Burmester and Branden Grace will be the big attraction for local fans when the LIV Golf tournament tees off at Steyn City on Thursday.

They will be joined by other Major golf champions of recent times, the biggest being Bryson de Chambeau, who won the LIV tournament in Singapore yesterday, and Jon Rahm, who won in Hong Kong the week before.

The other Major winners who’ll be in action this week are Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, and Graeme McDowell.

Each evening, after the day’s play there will be live music, including DJ Black Coffee playing on Friday and Calvin Harris on Saturday.

The individual winner will take home $4 million (about R67 million), while the winning team will take home $3 million to be shared among the team members.