JOHANNESBURG: South Africa will stage the richest single tournament in the sport when it launches a new World Golf Championship (WGC) event next year, Sunshine Tour commissioner Gareth Tindall said Tuesday. The $10 million Tournament of Hope is to be held from 2012 to 2016. A precise date and a venue have yet to be decided. “The awarding of this WGC event, which has the biggest prize money in professional golf, shows the rest of the world believe we have good stock and a good product here in South Africa,” Tindall told a news conference. The announcement comes after South African Charl Schwartzel's US Masters victory Sunday and fellow countryman Louis Oosthuizen's British Open win last July. The Tournament of Hope will be only the second WGC event to be staged outside the United States, the other is the HSBC Champions in China. “There is undoubtedly more respect now for international golfers and especially South Africans,” Tindall added. “The Federation of Tours began the World Golf Championships in 1987 but there is only one outside America. There's no doubt the timing was critical, the opportunity won't be there for us again. “Never before have we had five players in line for the (2011) Presidents Cup team,” said Tindall. “We had seven golfers at the Masters, which was the second most of any country behind the United States.” Tindall said the Tournament of Hope could be held at the end of 2012.
