Tiger, Rory heading for Durban?

AP

The European PGA Tour's 2013 Race to Dubai is likely to start with a race to Durban for the cream of the world's golfers.

The European PGA Tour’s 2013 Race to Dubai is likely to start with a “race to Durban” for the cream of the world’s golfers.

And such is the importance of an event carrying the Nelson Mandela brand that talk has begun of world No 1 Rory McIlroy lining up to be the first to get his name on the trophy.

An even bigger drawcard would be world No 2 Tiger Woods, who is apparently mulling over entering the event, which will be staged at Royal Durban golf club from December 6-9.

The world’s top two have been in prolific form this year, with Woods having recorded three wins and McIlroy having gone one better, including the final major of the year among his four wins.

Both are currently in action in the Fedex Cup finale in Atlanta, and are also likely to go head-to-head in next week’s Ryder Cup battle between the top 12 players from the US and Europe, at Medinah.

The Nelson Mandela Championship will be the first event of the European Tour’s 2013 Race to Dubai calendar, and can really put Durban on the map.

Coming the week after Sun City hosts the annual “Million Dollar” event with an elite 12-man field, it is expected that half a dozen of the world’s stars, including the likes of Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Ernie Els, will move on to South Africa’s Surf City for this event.

Peter de Villiers, the general manager of the club, says the course is already in good nick, and within two weeks, the rough will be ready to cope with the best professionals in the world. In fact, he says, it would be almost impossible for most amateurs to attempt to go for the green from the rough.

After all the recent rains the course is lush and soft, and the greens have been running true for a while… and there is scope to make them much faster on the stimpmeter with a little judicious lowering of the mower blades.

The course is being stretched right now, with tee boxes being pushed back as far as topography will allow, and it will be set up as a par-70 for the tournament.

While the official length of the course is just under 6 200m – short by modern standards – the sub-tropical atmosphere makes it play to about 6 500m.

The City of Durban will be backing the event as part of its renewed strategy to put the city on the international sports tourism map. The event will be broadcast to around 400m homes in more than 60 countries.

A field of 78 European Tour players and the same number of Sunshine Tour professionals will combine to battle it out for the prize purse of e1m (R11m).