John Daly will play in the European Tour's Alfred Dunhill Championship golf event this week in the northern South African wilderness as he continues his comeback from elbow surgery.
The two-time major winner will tee off at Leopard Creek Golf Club near Kruger National Park for only his second tournament since having a shattered right elbow tendon repaired.
The American made a promising start at last month's BMW Masters on his return to golf before falling away over the weekend to finish five-over-par and in a tie for 48th.
"I had my surgery done in July and have only played one tournament in four months," Daly said on Monday. "I'm really fresh and I want to play. I don't want to waste the end of this year. I'd like to get something going for the end of this year so I can get on track for next year.
"This is where I got my start. I played really good on the (South African) Sunshine Tour for 1987 through to 1990 and it got my career going. I played really well over here and it got my confidence going ... when I went back home, it actually helped me get my Tour card."
The 1991 PGA Championship winner and 1995 British Open champion showed good signs at the BMW Masters in China with an opening 68.
He goes up against 2011 Masters winner Charl Schwartzel and Brendon de Jonge this week, but the Leopard Creek course could suit him.
"It's a ball striker's golf course," Daly said. "You've got to hit the fairways. And the greens are tricky. It's the kind of course where you'd almost prefer a 20-footer to a 10-footer on these greens."
The Alfred Dunhill is the second of three straight tournaments in South Africa to start the new European season and the 2014 Race to Dubai.
Morten Orum Madsen won the South African Open on Sunday, while Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose, Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Schwartzel and De Jonge are part of a 30-man field at the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City from December 5-8.
Daly said he had spotted elephants near where he was staying and "woke up to a cobra this morning. For us being from America, you see that kind of stuff in the movies and seeing it live is just incredible".
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