Friday, 12th October 2007 at 10:14 pm

Greg Norman to play SAA Open

News that an Australian is headed for South Africa is usually reason to lock up your sheep and hide the family silver, but on this occasion, Feverpitcher is quite happy to join the welcoming party. The South African Airways Open lands at Pearl Valley Golf Estates - recently acquired by Leisurecorp, the investment arm of Dubai World - for the first time in December, and amongst the star attractions will be former world number one Greg Norman. No small attraction…

Norman has already developed an interest in this part of the world, putting his name to a number of South African golf course developments; that he and Sergio Garcia (who’s dating Norman’s daughter) are designing the second course at Pearl Valley is for now merely rumour, but Norman’s appearance at the Open in December suggests there may be a grain of truth to the conjecture.

What is established, however, is the quality of this year’s field, anounced at Pearl Valley Golf Estates on Thursday: Norman will be joined by Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Tim Clark, and SAA-sponsored Argentinean Angel Cabrera, the reigning US Open champion. Throw in a host of aspiring South African and European stars - the SAA Open is part of the European Tour - and there’s a cracker of a tournament looming: Feverpitcher will be at the front of the gallery come December 13.