Charl Schwartzel, who came close to winning the Joburg Open on Sunday, has withdrawn from the Sunshine Tour's R5-million Africa Open beginning on Thursday at East London GC.
The 24-year-old is instead heading to this week's Abu Dhabi Championship, the first of three lucrative events comprising the "Desert Swing" of the European Tour, and part of the new Race to Dubai.
Schwartzel tied for fourth in the Joburg Open, two back nine bogeys effectively relegating him into a share of fourth place with Tyrone van Aswegan and David Willett from England.
The field for the Africa Open remains a strong one, though, headed up by Richard Sterne and two former US Open champions in Retief Goosen and Angel Cabrera, as well as Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke.
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Sterne will be keen to return to his winning ways after his victories in December in the Alfred Dunhill Championship and South African Open, both co-sanctioned by the European Tour. The 27-year-old from Pretoria failed to defend his title in the Joburg Open that finished at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington with a victory for Dane Anders Hansen, but the South African still played well enough to tie for 12th on 275, six back of the winning score.
Goosen was just one off the pace at the start of the final round but blew his chances with a 74 that included nine bogeys and, bizarrely, an albatross two on the par-5 18th where he holed his three-iron approach from 228m. Clearly, the Goose will want to make amends on the hilly East London course which winds its way through pristine coastal bush and is highly rated by the players.
The Africa Open is now the richest event on the Sunshine Tour that is not sanctioned by the European Tour, although negotiations are underway to elevate it to European status by 2010. This would mean four European Tour events in South Africa - the Alfred Dunhill, the Joburg Open, the SA Open and the Africa Open.
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