Nedbank Golf Challenge 2025 Preview - Everything you need to know

Joost Luiten’s selection row, Viktor Hovland’s debut, Haotong Li’s bid for history and Marco Penge’s breakout season all collide at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, ‘Africa’s Major’, in Sun City.

THE Nedbank Challenge returns to the Gary Player Country Club after an unsavoury row over the appearance in the field of Joost Luiten of the Netherlands.

Luiten finished the 2025 season in 33rd place in the Race to Dubai but, remarkably, was told that there was no place for him at the Nedbank. Unsurprisingly, the decision caused uproar, especially given the fact that a number of LIV golfers such as Tom McKibbin and Adrian Meronk are being allowed to play in the restricted field tournament.

Fortunately, common sense has prevailed.

The controversy stems from the DP World Tour's revamped "Opening Swing" structure, which prioritises spots for top performers and sponsor exemptions over consistent earners such as Luiten. Despite the Nedbank event boasting a field of 66 players - 14 more than the Tour Championship - Luiten and fellow players such as Marcus Armitage were bumped down the priority list.

"Finishing 33rd, securing a place in the biggest event [the DP World Tour Championship], yet not in a smaller one with more spots? This isn't fair," Luiten wrote online, calling the changes a betrayal of loyal members. And he received plenty of support.

Richard Mansell, who won the Singapore Classic, declared, "Spot on, mate,” while two-time DP World Tour winner Dan Brown labelled it a “disgrace”.

Luiten, a 14-year tour veteran with five wins to his credit, will now feel that he has a point to prove.

Norwegian star Viktor Hovland is set to tee it up in South Africa for the first time. The 2023 FedExCup champion was the first player from Norway to win on both the DP World Tour and PGA Tour and claimed his 11th worldwide title with his victory at the Valspar Championship in Florida in March before going on to star for Europe in the Ryder Cup.

Hovland said: “I’m excited to tee it up at the Nedbank Golf Challenge for the first time this December. I’ve had a lot of cool experiences at DP World Tour events around the world, and I’m looking forward to adding this one to the list. It’s an event that has a lot of history, a great list of winners and, of course, the support of Gary Player, so I’m sure it will be a great week.”

And after coming close to being the first male golfer from China to win The Open this year, Haotong Li has now set his sights on a tournament described as “Africa’s Major”.

Li will make his sixth appearance in the Nedbank Golf Challenge as he seeks to become the first Asian champion in the history of this tournament. The 30-year-old returns to a tournament where he has a strong record, including top finishes of fourth and fifth in 2017 and 2018.

Li forms part of a stellar field that also includes PGA Tour winners Aldrich Potgieter, Nick Taylor, Will Zalatoris, Garrick Higgo and Thomas Detry, and a host of DP World Tour stars including Francesco Molinari, who was a vice-captain for the victorious Team Europe in the Ryder Cup this year.

Li was chasing a unique place in the history of the game when he challenged for The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush this year, looking to become the first male golfer from his country to win a Major before finishing fourth. He has consistently blazed a trail for Chinese golf as he’s represented his country in The Olympic Games and Presidents Cup, and climbed as high as 32nd on the Official World Golf Ranking. This year he claimed his fourth DP World Tour title in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

Marco Penge, the only three-time winner on the DP World Tour in the 2025 season, continues his season after competing in Australia as he prepares to head across the Atlantic to compete on the PGA Tour.

With his three wins in China, Denmark and Spain, Penge finished the season in second place on the Race to Dubai Rankings, 30th in the world rankings, and earned dual membership on the PGA TOUR.

He heads to Sun City as the 2026 season gets up and running as the next highest-ranked player in the field after Hovland. It’s apt that he returns to South Africa where his incredible year began when he finished third in the South African Open in March.

Penge said: “I love playing in South Africa and I’m really looking forward to ending an amazing year by making my debut at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. It’s an event I’ve heard a lot about, in terms of the course, the fact that it is played in honour of Mr Player, and everything else that goes into the week, so I’m sure it will be a great experience and the perfect way to help get my 2026 season up and running.”

It’s been a remarkable year for Penge, who claimed his maiden DP World Tour victory in April’s Hainan Classic and then added the Danish Golf Championship and the Open de España in a six-month stretch that has transformed his career.

Zalatoris makes his competitive return after his latest back surgery. He says that he is pain-free for the first time in years, but is certain to be ring rusty. However, it is highly encouraging to see him back in action once more.

Last year, American Johannes Veerman claimed his second DP World Tour title in dramatic fashion after a final round of 69 turned out to be good enough to overturn a five-shot deficit and win him the 2025 Nedbank Golf Challenge by a single shot.

But it was the man in second place, Potgieter, who served notice that we may be about to witness a generational talent. At just 20 years of age, the South African had already won on the Korn Ferry Tour and seemed destined for great things within the game. He has now gone on to win on the PGA Tour.

Veerman started the day five strokes off the lead, but carded six birdies and three bogeys in testing conditions to set a five-under-par clubhouse target that nobody could match. And it went right to the wire, with a bogey on the last denying South African Potgieter the chance to face Veerman in a play-off.

Potgieter had looked on course to claim a memorable home win when the third-round leader restored his three-shot overnight advantage with a birdie at the 10th. But on a breathless afternoon at Gary Player Country Club, the 20-year-old stumbled to a triple bogey at the par-three 12th to hand Veerman the lead. But Potgirter fought back with a birdie at the 14th to take the lead again.

With Veerman parring the 18th, Potgieter bogeyed the 16th to join him on that number before missing a good birdie chance on the 17th.

That left them locked together as Potgieter teed off on the 18th, where a closing bogey handed Veerman victory on his Sun City debut. Potgieter, Romain Langasque and Matthew Jordan finished in a tie for second, one shot behind Veerman.

Tournament Winners

It was won in 2015 by Marc Leishman, in 2016 by Alex Noren, in 2017 by Branden Grace, in 2018 by Lee Westwood, in 2019 and 2022 by Tommy Fleetwood, in 2023 by Max Homa and last year by Johannes Veerman. It wasn’t played in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid pandemic.

The Course

The Gary Player Country Club can be stretched to more than 7,800 yards. It opened in 1979 and has hosted the Nedbank Challenge since the tournament’s inception in 1981. It features many clover-shaped greens protected by well-placed bunkers. It is a spectacular golf course, with the Pilanesberg Mountains as a backdrop.

Prize Money

The total prize fund is $6m, with the winner collecting just over $1m. There are 4,000 Race to Dubai points up for grabs.

How to watch

Thursday, December 4, Sky Sports Golf, 9am; Friday, December 5, Sky Sports Golf, 9am; Saturday, December 6, Sky Sports Golf, 9am; Sunday, December 7, Sky Sports Golf, 9am

Nedbank Golf Challenge Betting Tips & Picks

Form Guide

Thriston Lawrence has had the strangest of seasons. He has struggled horribly on the PGA Tour, but returned to the DP World Tour and immediately looked like a world beater again.

To win:

Thriston Lawrence. Always plays well on home soil.

Each way:

Aldrich Potgieter. Thrilling golfer.

Each way:

Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Fabulous touch on the greens.

Five to Follow

Thriston Lawrence. Looking to end strange year on a high.

Aldrich Potgieter. Hits the ball miles.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Majestic ball striker.

Marco Penge. On the crest of a wave.

Kristoffer Reitan. Ready for his PGA Tour adventure.