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Els is player-host of the second oldest national Open
championship in world golf and extracted the commitment when he
played in the 2014 Irish Open, which is hosted by McIlroy’s
Foundation.
“Rory was very serious about coming to South Africa when I told
him he ‘owed me one’ at the Irish Open,” said Els.
“He’ll be the man to beat. Rory is by far the class player in
the field when you look at the world rankings,’ he told
reporters as golfers tested out the course at Glendower Country
Club before Thursday’s start.
“He’s the guy everyone will be looking up at to beat. There’s so
much excitement among everyone that he’s here.”
The 27-year-old McIlroy, ranked second in the world, played the
tournament once before in 2008, not long after turning
professional, and shared third spot with Els.
Nick Faldo, now 59, makes a return to the Tour after a lay-off
of more than two years.
But South Africa’s three top ranked golfers -- Branden Grace,
Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen -- have all elected to
skip the event.
“Naturally I’m disappointed they are not here, I think we all
are. I think they still want to spend more time with their
families and I understand that," Els added.
"But I hope we can persuade them to play next year because the
spectators are crazy about them and want to see them play."
(Reporting by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town,; Editing by Pritha
Sarkar)
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