Johannesburg — FEARS that SA's Major, the Nedbank Golf Challenge , could lose its appeal this year because of a weakened field proved unfounded yesterday when tournament organisers unveiled a classy field featuring three players ranked in the top 20 in the world.

The tournament, offering prize money of just under 4,4m, will be hosted at Sun City's Gary Player Country Club from December 3-6.

Tournament director Alistair Roper's plan to lure the world's best golfers to the spectacle was spoiled earlier this year when world No1 Tiger Woods announced that his Chevron World Challenge tournament would coincide with the Nedbank Golf Challenge , creating concern that local organisers may have to feed off the scraps.

Despite this, a high-quality field was announced featuring Sweden's Henrik Stenson, 20-year-old Northern Ireland sensation Rory McIlroy, and a home-grown favourite in Retief Goosen.

The exclusive 12-man field also includes current Masters champion Angel Cabrera, Sweden's Robert Karlsson and England's Luke Donald, while SA's Tim Clark and Sunshine Tour order of merit winner Richard Sterne will fly the South African flag alongside Goosen.

Of the 12 golfers, McIlroy, Sterne, the US 's Hunter Mahan and Nick Watney and England's Ross Fisher will have their first crack at the challenging Gary Player Country Club course, while Stenson and Goosen have lifted the trophy before.

A glaring omission from the 12- strong field was SA's Ernie Els -- ranked 22nd in the world -- who said last month he would not be attending the event as he needed to rest.

Roper admitted it was a challenge to string together a quality field this year, with 15 of the world's top 20 golfers accepting invitations to Woods's event.

But he expects the mixture of talented young golfers and a few established names to produce an exciting tournament.

"There are a lot of players we would have liked to have here that couldn't be here," said Roper. "With the new rules governing grooves on clubs coming into play next year, virtually all the players are using that time of the year to test clubs and balls with their manufacturing sponsors, most of whom are based in California, so they've decided to combine it with Tiger's tournament. It is also easier for the US-based golfers to play there rather than having to make the long journey to SA.

"But the golfers coming here will want to prove themselves and will fight right to the end, so I don't see a runaway victory like Stenson's last year. I believe we can look forward to an exciting tournament."

The field was endorsed by legendary South African golfer Gary Player, who is particularly delighted at getting to see McIlroy in action.

"These guys can play and they will be very hungry," said Player. "If you look at a guy like McIlroy, some say he has a better swing than Tiger Woods at his age. I have never seen him hit a ball, so I can't wait to see him play."

Roper also confirmed that the 2010 event would be moved forward by a week to prevent a similar dilemma to this year's tournament clashing with Woods's event.

Nedbank Golf Challenge field:

Henrik Stenson, Richard Sterne, Robert Allenby, Angel Cabrera, Tim Clark, Luke Donald, Ross Fisher, Retief Goosen, Robert Karlsson, Hunter Mahan, Rory McIlroy, Nick Watney.