Rice heading for South Africa

Tim Rice is heading back to South Africa - for a date with Darren Clarke.

The Limerick star, 25, was tenth in last week’s Vodacom Players Championship in just his fourth pro appearance.

That means he gets into both the South African Airways Open and the Dimension Data Pro Am in January.

The South African Open in the first tournament of the European Tour schedule next year while the Dimension Data will be Clarke’s first event in 2003.