Andy Sullivan feels Sun City is perfect place to end the year

Andy Sullivan feels ready to put his near-miss in Dubai behind him when he returns to action at this week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.

The 29-year-old appeared on course for a fourth win of the year when he briefly moved three shots clear in the final round of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship last month, only to miss out as Rory McIlroy claimed a one-shot victory.

Sullivan did not feature in last week's season-opening Alfred Dunhill Championship having played all four of the Final Series events, but returns to action in Sun City as part of a 30-man field in a country where he has claimed two of his three victories in 2015.

October's Portugal Masters victory followed early-season South African successes at Glendower GC and at the Joburg Open and Sullivan believes he can take positives from his performance in Dubai into his final event of the year.

"It was nice to go home and have a week off and reflect on everything," Sullivan said. "On the Sunday I came away feeling really disappointed, but once I was back home it started to sink in what I'd done and what I achieved, and I realised I could come away with my head held high.

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"I'm really excited to be back in South Africa after doing so well here earlier in the year. It's awesome - the course is fantastic and the scenery is unbelievable.

"It's strange because it feels like the end of the year, yet it's the start of the new season. It's not hard to get up for an event like this though.

"Hopefully I can put in one more good week and get quite a few points on the board heading into the New Year."

Danny Willett returns to the Gary Player CC as defending champion after a four-shot victory last year, while the tournament provides one final chance for top-seed Henrik Stenson to avoid a barren 2015.

Louis Oosthuizen, Martin Kaymer, Keegan Bradley and Shane Lowry also feature in a strong line-up, and Sullivan has strong memories of the tournament's prestigious history.

"I used to watch this on TV when it was the 12-man Million Dollar Challenge," Sullivan added. "I remember Henrik demolishing the field one year and winning by quite a few.

"You get a feel for some of the holes from what you've seen on TV but once you're here it looks a bit different in real life. It's spectacular."

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