Golf lovers have plenty on their plates this week as the Sunshine, European, American and LIV circuits are all in play.
The Sunshine Tour is teeing off in Zambia, the European Tour in Holland and the U.S. PGA Tour in Canada, all on Thursday; while LIV gets going in the U.S. Friday.
Some of the contestants will be fine-tuning their play for next week’s third Major of the year, the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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South Africans who have qualified for that illustrious affair so far include Christian Bezuidenhout and Erik van Rooyen.
In April, the U.S. Golf Association (USGA) announced they received a record 10 202 entries for this year’s event — breaking the previous mark of 10 187 set in 2023 for the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. This is the fourth time the USGA has received more than 10 000 entries.
All those not fully exempt had to compete in local and/or final qualifying to earn a place into the 156-player field at Oakmont.
Meanwhile, this week’s Zambia Open is taking place at Nkana Golf Club in the Copperbelt region.
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The host course has a par-72 layout and the competition’s prize money stands at $150 000 (R2,6 million). In Europe, the KLM Open is based at The International golf course in Badhoevedorp, Netherlands. It carries a prize fund of $2,75 million.
Across the Atlantic, the Canadian Open is taking place at TPC Toronto in Alton, Ontario. It boasts a purse of $9,8 million.
Friday sees the opening of LIV’s latest show at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia.
The prize fund at the American venue stands at a whopping $20 million for an individual contest, plus another $5 million for a team competition.