Alastair Roper alleviates rumours about the Nedbank Golf Challenge
The Nedbank Golf Challenge is scheduled to take place at the Sun City’s Gary Player Country Club on December 2nd. By some strange coincidence, three major players in the Challenge have suffered injuries this year. Not just a ‘cut on the finger’ type injuries,
these mishaps have caused the players to take breaks from golf and miss very relevant tournaments.
There was a lot of concern and various rumours about Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen and Justin Rose competing in the Nedbank tournament. However, Alastair Roper, who is the tournament director, has dismissed rumours and news about the champions not taking
part.
Lee Westwood got injured when his torn calf muscle flared up during the French Open. Following this incident, Westy was forced to withdraw from the WGC Bridgestone Invitational. Due to his calf, he couldn’t participate in the USPGA Championship as well.
After months of rest and relaxation, he returned to competitive golf in the Ryder Cup. Lee played a crucial role in the Ryder Cup but his injury recurred when he was competing in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.
Taking yet another break, Lee came back to competitive golf just this month when he took part in the WGC-HSBC Champions in China. Now World number one, there is no stopping Lee Westwood. Seeing how remarkably Lee finished second place to Francesco Molinari
last weekend, it doesn’t look like he will back out from his commitment to Nedbank.
As for the South African player, Oosthuizen, he stepped in a pothole and injured his ankle. Due to this incident, the 2010 Open Champion couldn’t participate in the Grand Slam in Bermuda as well. He also withdrew from the HSBC Battle since he was still coping
with the gradually recovering ankle. But since Louis hasn’t actually withdrawn, being optimistic Roper still says that he will take part in the invitational.
“Being eligible to play in this tournament is a dream come true for Louis, so I don't think he would jeopardize that”, said Roper about Oosthuizen.
The Englishman Justin Rose was suffering from a shoulder injury and was also taking time out in order to get back into form. Roper had received an email from Rose confirming his participation in the challenge.
Alastair said that no alterations have been made to the difficult country club lay out for the event. Overall, Alastair is very excited for the 12-man invitational and is hoping for all the great athletes to take part.
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