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Zimbabwe Open
The Zimbabwe Open is a professional golf tournament held in Zimbabwe, currently played on the Sunshine Tour. HistoryThe tournament debuted in 1984 and was part of the Safari circuit from 1985 to 1992, a series of events in Africa played by professionals from the European Tour during the winter season. In 1991 and 1992, the event was also part of the Challenge Tour. From 1993, it moved onto the First National Bank Tour, later renamed the Sunshine Tour.[citation needed] When it was held in the weeks preceding the Nedbank Golf Challenge, the tournament attracted some of the world's leading players who used it as a warm up to the big money invitational. Past winners include major winners Vijay Singh and Nick Price with Mark McNulty also achieving three victories, making him one of the most successful players in the event. Past winner Gordon J. Brand represented the Ryder Cup.[citation needed] Due to economic instability in Zimbabwe, the tournament lost sponsors and was cancelled prior to the 2002 event. There were many attempts to resurrect the tournament, but none were successful until 2010.[1][2][3] The 2019 edition was also cancelled because of a lack of sponsors caused by a weak economy.[4] Having not been played in 2019, 2020 and 2021, the tournament returned in 2022, sponsored by FBC Bank.[5] It had been anticipated that the event would be added to the 2023 European Tour schedule.[6] However, this never came to fruition, mainly due to changes in the venue qualifying criteria set by the European Tour. It was anticipated that the tournament would become a European Tour event in 2024 instead.[7] Again, this never came to fruition. Winners
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