The Nedbank Golf Challenge is an annual men's professional golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

 tournament played at the Gary Player Country Club

Gary Player Country Club

The Gary Player Country Club is a golf club in Sun City, South Africa, named after golf icon and Grand Slam winner, Gary Player. It is home to one of the world's longest golf courses, at almost 8,000 yards....

 in Sun City, North West province

North West (South African province)

North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mafikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng.-History:...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. It is not an official money event for any of the major tours

Professional golf tours

Professional golf tours are the means by which otherwise unconnected professional golf tournaments are organised into a regular schedule. There are separate tours for men and women, with each tour being based in a specific geographical region, although some of their tournaments may be held in other...

, and like many high profile unofficial tournaments in professional golf it takes place between the conclusion of the PGA Tour

PGA Tour

The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...

 in early November, and Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

. It usually attracts many of the world's highest ranked players.

The tournament is a twelve man invitational stroke play

Stroke play

Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf. It involves counting the total number of strokes taken on each hole during a given round, or series of rounds...

 event, with the field being made up of defending champion, the Sunshine Tour

Sunshine Tour

The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern Africa. For much of its history it was known either as the South African Tour or the FNB Tour, but it rebranded itself in an attempt to broaden its appeal...

 order of merit winner, the four major

Men's major golf championships

The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the Major Championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf...

 winners and then completed with the top players in the Official World Golf Rankings

Official World Golf Rankings

The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of male professional golfers...

 following the U.S. PGA Championship

PGA Championship

The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...

. In 2006, the tournament carried world ranking points for the first time since 1999.

When it was conceptualised by Gary Player and founded by Sol Kerzner in 1981, the tournament was known as The Million Dollar Challenge because of its US$1 million prize fund, with the winner's share being $500,000. In 1987 the event was played on a "winner takes all" basis, with the winner claiming the whole of the million dollar purse. This was designed to overcome any qualms the world's top golfers might have about competing in South Africa during the apartheid era, and it was successful in doing this in many cases. In 1988 the winner's prize was again $1 million, but additional prizes were introduced.

From 2000 to 2002 the first prize was increased to $2 million, but the following year the winner's share of the total prize fund was reduced from more than half to around 30%. The standard winner's share on the PGA Tour is 18% and on the European Tour it is 16.67%. In 2006 the winner received $1.2 million out of a total purse of $4.385 million, so the prize distribution is now not far from the normal pattern for a professional tournament, once allowance is made for the small size of the field. That $2 million first prize remains the largest in professional golf, but was matched in 2011 by the Lake Malaren Shanghai Masters.

Winners

Year	Player	Country	Score
2010	Lee Westwood Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood OBE is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, Westwood is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on every major continent, including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He was named player of the year for the 1998, 2000, and 2009 seasons...		271 (−17)
2009	Robert Allenby Robert Allenby Robert Allenby is an Australian professional golfer.Allenby was born in Melbourne, Australia. His father was from Leeds, England and emigrated to Australia as a young man.-Professional career:...		277 (−11)PO
2008	Henrik Stenson Henrik Stenson Henrik Stenson is a Swedish professional golfer who plays both on the US and European tours. He has spent over 100 weeks ranked in the World top ten and his career high ranking of fourth is the best by any Swedish golfer.-Career:...		267 (−21)
2007	Trevor Immelman Trevor Immelman Trevor John Immelman is a South African professional golfer and winner of the 2008 Masters Tournament.-Early years:Immelman was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Born into a golfing family , he took up golf at the age of five. He attended Hottentots Holland High School...		272 (−16)
2006	Jim Furyk Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk is an American professional golfer, 2010 FedEx Cup champion, and 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 2003 U.S. Open. Furyk is known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing...		276 (−12)
2005	Jim Furyk Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk is an American professional golfer, 2010 FedEx Cup champion, and 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 2003 U.S. Open. Furyk is known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing...		282 (−6)PO
2004	Retief Goosen Retief Goosen Retief Goosen is a South African professional golfer who has been in the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for over 250 weeks between 2001 and 2007. His main achievements have been two U.S...		281 (−7)
2003	Sergio García Sergio García Sergio García Fernández is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on both the United States PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings...		274 (−14)PO
2002	Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...		267 (−21)
2001	Sergio García Sergio García Sergio García Fernández is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on both the United States PGA Tour and the European Tour. He has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings...		268 (−20)PO
2000	Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...		268 (−20)PO
1999	Ernie Els Ernie Els Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing...		263 (−25)
1998	Nick Price Nick Price Nicholas Raymond Leige Price is a South African-Zimbabwean Professional golfer and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Background:...		273 (−15)PO
1997	Nick Price Nick Price Nicholas Raymond Leige Price is a South African-Zimbabwean Professional golfer and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Background:...		275 (−13)
1996	Colin Montgomerie Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE is a Scottish professional golfer, often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31...		274 (−14)PO
1995	Corey Pavin Corey Pavin Corey Allen Pavin is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour. He spent over 150 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1986 and 1997.-Biography:...		276 (−12)
1994	Nick Faldo Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander "Nick" Faldo, MBE is an English professional golfer on the European Tour who now mainly works as an on air golf analyst. Over his career, he has won six majors: three Open Championships and three Masters. He was ranked the World No...		272 (−16)
1993	Nick Price Nick Price Nicholas Raymond Leige Price is a South African-Zimbabwean Professional golfer and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.-Background:...		264 (−24)
1992	David Frost David Frost (golfer) David Laurence Frost is a South African professional golfer who has more than twenty professional tournament wins to his name, spread across four continents....	South Africa	276 (−12)
1991	Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion, and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986...		272 (−16)
1990	David Frost David Frost (golfer) David Laurence Frost is a South African professional golfer who has more than twenty professional tournament wins to his name, spread across four continents....	South Africa	284 (−4)
1989	David Frost David Frost (golfer) David Laurence Frost is a South African professional golfer who has more than twenty professional tournament wins to his name, spread across four continents....	South Africa	276 (−12)
1988	Fulton Allem Fulton Allem Fulton Peter Allem is a South African professional golfer.Allem was born in Kroonstad, Orange Free State, South Africa, the middle child of five children and the grandson of a Lebanese trader; he had a privileged upbringing...	South Africa	278 (−10)
1987	Ian Woosnam Ian Woosnam Ian Harold Woosnam OBE is a Welsh professional golfer.Nicknamed 'Woosie', 'Woosers', or the 'Wee Welshman', Woosnam was one of the "Big Five" generation of European golfers, all born within 12 months of one another, all of whom have won majors, and made Europe competitive in the Ryder Cup...		274 (−14)
1986	Mark McNulty Mark McNulty Mark William McNulty is an Irish/Zimbabwean professional golfer currently playing on the Champions Tour. He was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s, and cracked the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for 83 weeks from 1987 to 1992.McNulty...		282 (−6)
1985	Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion, and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 90s, being the first official number one ranked player in 1986...	West Germany	278 (−10)
1984	Seve Ballesteros		279 (−9)
1983	Seve Ballesteros		274 (-14)
1982	Raymond Floyd Raymond Floyd Raymond Loran "Ray" Floyd is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour....		280 (−8)PO
1981	Johnny Miller Johnny Miller John Laurence Miller is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour. He was one of the top players in the world during the mid-1970s; he ranked second in the world on Mark McCormack's world golf rankings in both 1974 and 1975 behind Jack Nicklaus. He is currently the lead golf...		277 (−11)

As of 2009, the leading money winner in the event is Ernie Els with winnings of $7,971,000.