Clark confirmed for Nedbank Challenge

Tim Clark will make his fifth appearance in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club from December 4 to 7.Photo by: Bryan Snyder/Reuters

Tim Clark will make his fifth appearance in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club from December 4 to 7.Photo by: Bryan Snyder/Reuters

Published Nov 24, 2014

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Johannesburg – Tim Clark will make his fifth appearance in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club from December 4 to 7, and at the end of a year where he has been arguably South Africa's top performer on the international stage.

Following his victory in the RBC Canadian Open, Clark is the only South African to have won on the PGA Tour this year, and has been one of the shining lights in a largely quiet 2014 for South Africa's leading professionals.

Clark also recently lost a playoff to Masters champion Bubba Watson for the World Golf Championships HSBC Champions in China.

Those were the standout performances in a year which Clark admitted he didn't have high expectations for following a difficult 2013 where he struggled with an elbow injury.

“To have won means a lot. I hadn't had the greatest of years starting from January. I played good in the fall last year, but this year as a calendar year wasn't the best for me, to start with. To turn it around like I have means a lot,” Clark said.

The Umkomaas professional is currently the third South African to confirm his place in the Golf Challenge field, joining Charl Schwartzel and Dawie van der Walt.

Clark returns to Sun City with an improved record. He finished 12th, sixth, third and second in his previous four appearances in the Golf Challenge.

His last appearance was in 2010 when he finished runner-up to Lee Westwood, who won by eight shots that year.

That was also the year Clark made his breakthrough on the PGA Tour with his first victory there, in the Players Championship.

And the South African admitted he would return to the Golf Challenge a different player in many respects to the one South Africans last saw in 2010.

“A lot has happened since then. I've had surgery, and on the good side I've had two kids. My life has changed a lot.”

Clark heads back to Sun City seeking his first victory on African soil since winning the 2002 South African Open, and the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit that year.

With the European Tour's Race to Dubai now complete, the remainder of the Golf Challenge field would be confirmed this week.

GOLF CHALLENGE CONFIRMED PLAYERS: Thomas Bjørn (Denmark), Martin Kaymer (Germany), Lee Westwood (England), Charl Schwartzel (South Africa), Victor Dubuisson (France), Jamie Donaldson (Wales), Stephen Gallacher (Scotland), Dawie van der Walt (South Africa), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand), Luke Donald (England), Miguel Angel Jiminez (Spain), Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand), Ross Fisher (England), Kevin Na (United States), Tim Clark (South Africa).– Sapa

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