The top four on the South African sports list were golfers. Els was followed by Louis Oosthuizen, Retief Goosen and Charl Schwartzel.

Home favorite Hennie Otto surged into a three-shot lead with a 7-under 65 at the third round of the South African Open on Saturday as Retief Goosen and Ernie Els both stumbled.

Scrabble-loving Englishman James Morrison shrugged off a three-hour thunderstorm delay to extend his lead over a field packed with major winners at the Barclays Singapore Open on Friday.

World number two Lee Westwood and US Open champion Rory McIlroy are headlining a powerful field chasing the biggest winner's cheque in golf at the Lake Malaren Shanghai Masters starting Thursday.

South African Retief Goosen is nursing a broken toe heading into the first round of the PGA Tour playoffs following a freak boating accident in the driveway of his Florida home.

Retief Goosen put himself in line for a third European Tour order of merit with a one-shot victory at the German Masters.