Els to play Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course, Aug 2-5

Fiji Sun, March 30 – Four time Major winner and 2019 Presidents Cup International Team captain Ernie Els will headline the 2018 Fiji International pre­sented by Fiji Airways to be played at Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course on August 2-5.

Affectionately known as The Big Easy due to his fluid golf swing, Els will be swinging easy on the course and taking it easy away from the course.

“I am delighted to be playing the Fiji Interna­tional presented by Fiji Airways. I have watched the TV coverage in the past and the beautiful golf course looks like an excellent challenge,”Els said.

“But I am also looking forward to visiting Fiji. As professional golfers we are very lucky to travel the world and Fiji is a place that I would like to explore once my work on the course is finished.”

Now in its fifth year, the Fiji International pre­sented by Fiji Airways has attracted a long list of world class players to the tropical nation with Els the most recent addition.

“We are very excited to welcome Els to our beau­tiful country for the Fiji International presented by Fiji Airways,” said Faiyaz Siddiq Koya, Minis­ter for Industry, Trade, Tourism, Lands and Min­eral Resources.

“Having a player of Ernie’s calibre compete in the Fiji International demonstrates the tournaments’ standing on the international golf schedule.

“Ernie is highly respected in the golf world and having his tick of approval for the tournament will continue to enhance Fiji’s reputation as a world class golfing destination.”

Tri-sanctioned by the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia, European Tour and Asian Tour; se­curing Ernie Els for the 2018 tournament further demonstrates the advantage of the three tours’ in­volvement.

“We are very pleased to welcome and host Ernie in Fiji. Ernie is an incredibly talented player with a long and storied history in golf, his participation in the tournament will ensure the world’s atten­tion is on the Fiji International presented by Fiji Airways throughout event week,” said Gavin Kirk­man, CEO of the PGA of Australia which owns the

ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.

Each year we have attracted players from all over the world to Fiji but Ernie will be the first South African player to tee it up in the tournament. South Africa is a strong golf playing nation, hav­ing Ernie in the field will showcase to South Afri­cans the potential of Fiji as a golfing destination.”