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Els to make injury come-back

20/10/2005

Ernie Els is aiming to return to competitive action in December's Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City in South Africa.

The Big Easy has been suffering from a knee injury for about two months and was expected to be out of action until the new year at the earliest.

However, Els' doctor has revealed the world number five has recovered faster than anticipated which has allowed Nedbank tournament director Alistair Roper to confirm Els as among the 12-man field.

"I'm 100 per cent sure about Ernie. He had a full assessment by his doctor on September 30th and all is well," Roper said.

"In fact, when I called him yesterday he was playing nine holes of golf and said he felt great."

The news is a welcome one, not only for Roper, but also for golf fans in general who have turned out in ever-growing numbers at Sun City since the event's inception in 1981.

One player who may miss out however, is Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke, whose wife Heather is still battling with cancer.

"Obviously a lot will depend on Heather's condition. But I would rather have Darren in the field under those conditions than not have him in the field at all," Roper added.

The full field for the event sees leading Europeans Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald competing, as well as the top ten contingent of Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk, Adam Scott and Chris DiMarco.

Kenny Perry, Angel Cabrera, Tim Clark, Stewart Cink and, hopefully, Darren Clarke complete the line-up.

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