St Andrews, Scotland - At the Old Course in St Andrews on Friday, little South African golf professional Jbe Kruger found himself following in the spike-marks of a Tiger Woods when he was in his pomp.
When 14-time Major champion Woods in 2000 won the first of the two Open Championships he claimed at St Andrews, he didn’t go into a single bunker in all four rounds, and there are plenty of nasty traps - well over 100 of them, some hidden, some catching drives hit straight down the middle - at this 500-year-old famous links.
To score well, you have to carefully plot your way around the Old Course to avoid trouble and, like Woods, Kruger didn’t visit a single bunker on his way to a fine four-under-par 68 in the second round of the $5 million (about R69.5 million) Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Friday.
He showed Tiger-like feistiness as he raced to the turn in four-under-par 32 with birdies at holes 2, 5, 6 and 7. He then hung on grimly on the far tougher inward loop against the wind to complete it in level-par 36. There were bogey-fives at 13 and 17, the notorious Road Hole and one of the toughest par-4s to be found anywhere, after he had picked up shots at 10 and 11 - the latter no mean feat as the 11th is a treacherous little par-3 fronted by two truly cavernous bunkers, Hill and Strath. Kruger’s 68 put him on eight-under-par 136 following his opening 68 at Kingbarns and he lies fourth all on his own going into today’s third round, four back of leader Ross Fisher of England with overnight leader Alex Horen and fellow Swede Joakim Lagergren in joint second place on 135.
“It’s funny, I didn’t go into a single bunker today in stark contrast to a long time I spent in a practice bunker before the round,” Kruger chuckled. He avoided, for instance, Cartgate bunker at No 3 which the locals here say that if you lose one of your party, peer down into Cartage and you're likely to see that person hacking away, shovelling bucketloads of sand on to the green. At No 5 Jbe skirted the pair of perilous bunkers known as the Spectacles, at No 9 Kruger and Mrs Kruger, named after the Boer president and his wife, not Jbe Kruger! - at 12 bunkers in the middle of the fairway, at 14 Hell, a vast area of sand 10 feet deep, at 16 a wicked little pot called Deacon Syme, and at 17 the treacherous Road Hole bunker, which has caused the downfall of many a challenge.
“The weather wasn’t great today - by Scottish standards it might have been okay, but I’m not Scottish,” chuckled Kruger. “But I managed to hang in there. It hasn’t been a great year for me and I think I need a top 10 here (to make sure of keeping his European Tour card for next year).”
Another South African small of stature doing well this week is Richard Sterne, who posted a 69 at Kingsbarns on Friday to add to his opening 69 at Carnoustie and is six-under-par 138 and in joint sixth place alongside compatriot Ulrich van den Berg (69 at St Andrews, also for 138).
It was decidedly cold and a little wet at this stunning links on the North Sea east of St Andrews, and yet Sterne raced to the turn in just 32 strokes, the highlight being an eagle two at the 338-yard par-4 sixth hole where he drove the green and sunk the long putt he was left with, which he estimated to be between 40 and 50 feet.
The cut here is only after 54 holes but, as things stand, Merrick Bremner (68 at St Andrews for 141), George Coetzee (69 at Kingsbarns for 141) Erik van Rooyen (69 at St Andrews for 141), Jaco Ahlers (71 at Carnoustie for 141), Louis Oosthuizen (71 at Kingsbarns for 142) and Rhys West (73 at St Andrews for 142) are all well placed to make that cut. However, the 2012 winner of this tournament, Branden Grace, following a 75 at Kingsbarns to be four-over-par 148, has some serious work to do at St Andrews today if he hopes to qualify for the final round on sunday.
The Star