The first South African to win in the event's eighth year. The tournament was limited to eight invited players, with Allem finishing on 10-under 278 (72, 71, 66, 69), one ahead of Don Pooley of the US. The rest of the field was Ken Green, Ian Woosnam, Chip Beck, David Frost, Mark McNulty and Bernhard Langer. Then aged 31, Allem had enjoyed a successful year, finishing T3rd in the Players Championship, won by Mark McCumber.

The field had increased in size to 10 and Frost won by three strokes over Scott Hoch after rounds of 67, 66, 75, 68 had left him at 12-under 276. The first prize in those days was $1-million, which converted to R2.6m at the time. Some 60 000 fans packed Sun City over the four days. 'I'll never be able to accurately describe how it felt out there, with all those fans behind me. It was wonderful, just too wonderful,' he said at the trophy ceremony.

In two of Frost's three wins he had finished on 276. Here he ended on 284 (four rounds of 71) but that was still good enough to beat Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal by one stroke. The tournament came down to the 72nd hole, with Frost making an eight-foot putt to win. The field was again limited to 10 golfers, with Langer third and Steve Elkington fourth.

The first player to secure three wins, which ended with just eight players after Nick Faldo and Nick Price were disqualified ahead of the final round. Price was disqualified for refusing to sign his scorecard, while Faldo was disqualified for signing his card incorrectly. Frost put together rounds of 70, 69, 68, 69 for a 12-under 276 to beat John Cook by four shots and win another $1m.

The 30-year-old fired rounds of 67, 66, 64, 66 for a 25-under 263, which eclipsed by one the previous record of Nick Price's set 12 months earlier. 'Golf can be a confidence thing and for the last 10 months – since I won the Los Angeles Open, I'd lacked a bit of self-belief and hadn't been at my very best,' Els admitted. He finished five shots clear of Colin Montgomerie and seven ahead of Darren Clarke in a field of 12.

Els went back-to-back when he prevailed in a play-off with Lee Westwood after the pair had tied on 20-under-par 268. Els made a birdie three on the second playoff hole (the 17th) and walked away with the biggest prize in world golf at the time – $2m, with the rand-dollar exchange rate then being R7.57. Els had rounds of 66, 67, 67, 67, for a combined 45 under par for his 1999 and 2000 wins.

A winner by five shots over Montgomerie in 1999, Els beat the Scot by eight in securing his third NGC title, this time after rounds of 70, 65, 69, 63 for 21-under 267. Although the field was again limited to 12 golfers, few could have lived with the South African that week. He earned another $2m for winning, which took his tournament earnings at Sun City over 10 years to $5.3m.

The 35-year-old US Open champion battled a bad cold but powered his was to a six shot win over Els and Stuart Appleby, closing with a 69 and seeing his Sunday playing partner, Lee Westwood, fall away with a final-round 80. Again, the field was reduced to an invitation-only 12 players and Goosen earned $1.2m for his fourth worldwide win of the year.

Immelman, who went on to win the Masters the next year, overcame a flurry of late bogeys to win by one shot from Justin Rose, after rounds of 67, 66, 67, 72. Immelman finished bogey-bogey-bogey, but Rose made a double bogey on the final hole when par would have won him the event. Again in a select field of 12, Immelman was a late replacement following the withdrawal of Sergio Garcia.

After a 10-year gap, Grace made a 50-foot putt on the 16th hole to help him close with a 66 and hold off Scott Jamieson by one shot. 'This is the one event that as a South African you want to win. It's Africa's Major and what a special place it is. There's a lot of history and a lot of great winners on the trophy,' said Grace. The event had been given DP World Tour status with a field of 72.

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