Former Masters champion Patrick Reed has confirmed he will tee it up at the SA Open Championship at Stellenbosch Golf Club next weekend, from 26 February to 1 March.

Reed will make his debut in the tournament by virtue of his returning status on the DP World Tour, which co-sanctions this tournament with the Sunshine Tour. He recently quit the LIV Golf Tour, where he had played for the last three seasons.

“I’m really excited to make my first trip to South Africa. I have many friends from South Africa and I look forward to competing in their home country on the DP World Tour and in conjunction with the Sunshine Tour,” said the Masters champion from 2018.

The other big attraction in Stellenbosch will be South Africa’s four-time Major winner, Ernie Els, who’ll play at the tournament he has won five times, the last being in 2010.

The winner of the 115th SA Open offers a direct pathway into two of the game’s iconic Majors – the Masters at Augusta in April and the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in July. In fact, the top three finishers in Stellenbosch next week will get a place in the field at the Open.

Reed will come to South Africa on the back of two wins on the DP World Tour in recent weeks, plus a runner-up finish. He won the Dubai Desert Classic and Qatar Masters with a second place at the Bahrain Championship.

Other big-name players who’ll tee it up next week include another former Masters champion in Charl Schwartzel and five of the last six SA Open champions, namely defending champion Dylan Naidoo, Dean Burmester, Thriston Lawrence, Daniel van Tonder and Branden Grace.