Seve three-putted and Miller copped the $500,000 first prize. And it went to the ninth hole of a sudden-death playoff. Only five came out to play but what a five they were … Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player of course as it was his course, Seve Ballesteros, Lee Trevino and Johnny Miller. It all started back in 1981 with what was at first called the Million-Dollar Challenge. That is little more than a drop in the ocean compared with the sums Nedbank used to shell out to capture the glitterati of the game and alert the world to what other hedonistic pleasures were available in the gambling capital of Southern Africa. With the Saudi-backed LIV throwing zillions of dollars around like confetti, $4m first prizes the new norm and the PGA Tour trying frantically to keep up, it’s easy to forget the eye-popping contribution Nedbank made to the bank balances of the world’s greatest golfers back in the day.Īs of now, the Nedbank Challenge, being contested this week at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, has a handsome winner’s purse of just over $1m and a cool $6m to be shared among the 66 competitors. Place FIVE pre-tournament bets and get an in-play matched FREE BET! T&Cs apply.
