The final place was scheduled to go to Sunday’s winner of the Alfred Dunhill Championship, if not already exempt. Charl Schwartzel won the title at Leopard Creek but had already qualified for the Nedbank Golf Challenge before this. Schwartzel took the place of the injured Ernie Els at Sun City.

With Els having been one of four sponsor’s invites, Jiménez qualified on this basis rather than world ranking. The colourful Spaniard returns to the tournament for the sixth time after finishing sixth last year. He won his second Champions Tour event this year but was also highly competitive on the European Tour, where he finished second two weeks in a row in the Open de Espana and the BMW PGA Championship.

In 2014, Jiménez became the European Tour’s oldest winner with his victory in the Open de Espana at the age of 50 years and 133 days. After turning professional in 1982, he made five attempts at the European Tour’s Qualifying School before finally securing his card.

His first victory on the European Tour came in the 1992 Belgian Open. He has gone on to win 21 times on the European Tour, play in four Ryder Cups, 14 World Cups, and eight Seve Trophies. “Miguel is such a friend of Sun City and the Nedbank Golf Challenge. He loves the event and has always supported us, so we are delighted that we could offer him the final place in this year’s event,” said Alastair Roper, Sun International’s Tournament Director for the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Schwartzel’s victory at Leopard Creek on Sunday makes him the most in-form South African in the field. He joins Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace, Thomas Aiken and Jaco van Zyl in attempting to become the first South African winners of the Nedbank Golf Challenge since Trevor Immelman in 2007.

2015 NEDBANK GOLF CHALLENGE CONFIRMED PLAYERS:

Charl Schwartzel (South Africa), Webb Simpson (United States), Keagan Bradley (United States), Lee Westwood (England), Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa), Henrik Stenson (Sweden), Branden Grace (South Africa), Danny Willett (England), Thomas Aiken (South Africa), Robert Streb (United States), Scott Piercy (United States), Steven Bowditch (Australia), Shane Lowry (Ireland), Victor Dubuisson (France), Bernd Wiesberger (Austria), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand), Byeong Hun An (South Korea), Martin Kaymer (Germany), Søren Kjeldsen (Denmark), Tommy Fleetwood (England), Ross Fisher (England), Marc Leishman (Australia), Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand), Andy Sullivan (England), Jaco van Zyl (South Africa), Matthew Fitzpatrick (England), Chris Wood (England), Emiliano Grillo (Argentina), Russell Knox (Scotland), Miguel Angel Jiménez (Spain).

Photo:  Miguel Angel Jiménez - David Cannon.