Jbe’ Kruger says he found something at the range this morning and whatever it was worked wonders as he signed for a 64 in the second round of the Sun City Challenge.
‘I found something on the range this morning which made me swing a little bit freer,’ he said after admitting that he has not been playing well at all lately.
‘Not being scared of the shots that you want to play, that was probably the key.’
While he didn’t equal or better the Gary Player Country Club course record 63 set by Sweden’s Henrik Stenson in 2008 and Ernie Els six years earlier, Kruger’s round was just as scintillating. Starting from the 10th tee, Kruger made two birdies on the trot just to set the tone and make his intentions clear. A par later, he made three more birdies in succession, before picking up a bogey on his 9th hole, the 18th of the golf course.
That drop didn’t seem to bother the four-time Sunshine Tour winner because he swiftly brushed that mishap aside and went on to another three-birdie run at the turn all the way through to the 12th. Those birdies and the one he went on to make on the 15th sandwiched the two pars he picked up along the way, and, after making bogey on the par-three 7th, his 16th, another birdie found its way on to his card.
‘From the range, the confidence was already going,’ he said of his fast start to the second round.
‘Because now I could swing freely, which I know I had a problem with the last few months.’
That score took his total to five under for the week thus giving him a three-shot cushion ahead of the final round.
A round like Kruger’s, laden with 10 birdies on a golf course as tough as the Gary Player Country Club, is spectacular by any standard, and even more so when the closest challenger shoots level par.
That closest competitor was Louis de Jager. His was as eventful a round as Kruger’s. Six birdies on his round two scorecard were accompanied by a pair of double-drops and the same number of bogeys. In a round where only six players shot below par, the two-under 70 that De Jager shot in round one proved enough to hand him the second spot on the leaderboard.
Justin Harding, Wallie Coetsee, Neil Schietekat and Ulrich van den Berg all share the third position on one under but of all four players, it was Van den Berg who shot a score below par – a 71 in round two. Schietekat and Coetsee both signed for a level-par round while Harding finished two over par.
Members of the Gary Player Class of 2018-19, Franklin Manchest is in a three-man tie for seventh, while Jacquin Hess and Heinrich Bruiners share 10th with Merrick Bremner and Ockie Strydom.
Second round leaderboard:
139 – Jbe’ Kruger 75 64
142 – Louis de Jager 70 72
143 – Justin Harding 69 74, Wallie Coetsee 71 72, Neil Schietekat 71 72, Ulrich van den Berg 72 71
145 – Stephen Ferreira 73 72, Franklin Manchest 73 72, Riekus Nortje 68 77
146 – Merrick Bremner 74 72, Heinrich Bruiners 72 74, Ockie Strydom 73 73, Jacquin Hess 76 70
147 – Titch Moore 73 74, JC Ritchie 71 76, Chris Cannon 76 71, Estiaan Conradie 69 78, Anton Haig 77 70, Vaughn Groenewald 75 72, Hennie Otto 75 72, Mark Williams 74 73, Doug McGuigan 72 75, Jean Hugo 76 71, Jake Redman 74 73
148 – Christiaan Basson 70 78, Jaco Prinsloo 73 75, Andre Nel 75 73, Callum Mowat 75 73, Jaco Ahlers 76 72
149 – Teboho Sefatsa 76 73, Combrinck Smit 79 70, Herman Loubser 73 76, JJ Senekal 72 77, Jade Buitendag 75 74, Desvonde Botes 74 75
150 – Keith Horne 76 74, MJ Viljoen 73 77, Andrew Curlewis 74 76, Fredrik From 73 77, Alex Haindl 75 75, Keenan Davidse 76 74, Philip Geerts 74 76, Jacques P de Villiers 76 74
Missed the cut:
151 – Allan Versfeld 77 74, Ryan Cairns 73 78, Rhys West 76 75, Jason Viljoen 74 77, Ruan de Smidt 78 73, Colin Nel 76 75, Louis Albertse 75 76, Irvin Mazibuko 79 72, Thabang Simon 78 73
152 – Chris Swanepoel 75 77, Toto Thimba 77 75, Andrew van der Knaap 77 75, Tyrone Ryan 81 71, Teaghan Gauche 80 72
153 – Thriston Lawrence 74 79, Andre De Decker 75 78, Marc Cayeux 72 81, Hennie du Plessis 77 76, James Kingston 77 76, Pieter Moolman 75 78, Luke Jerling 75 78, Derick Petersen 80 73, Peter Karmis 74 79, Roberto Lupini 79 74, Ryan Tipping 76 77, David McIntyre 74 79, Ruan Conradie 75 78
154 – CJ du Plessis 77 77, Jason Smith 80 74, Madalitso Muthiya 76 78, Jared Harvey 77 77, Breyten Meyer 79 75
155 – Musiwalo Nethunzwi 81 74, Damon Stephenson 76 79, Jean-Paul Strydom 77 78, Desne Van Den Bergh 80 75, Divan van den Heever 77 78, Theunis Bezuidenhout 79 76
156 – Bennie van der Merwe 76 80, Wayne Stroebel 80 76, Tyrone Ferreira 79 77, Marthin Scheepers 78 78
157 – Michael Hollick 75 82, Stefan Engell Andersen 82 75, Mark Murless 83 74, Aubrey Beckley 80 77
158 – Duane Keun 80 78, Yubin Jung 83 75, Luke Trocado 80 78, Omar Sandys 78 80, Basil Wright 76 82
159 – Allister de Kock 81 78
160 – Wynand Dingle 77 83, Michael Palmer 81 79, Michael Schutz 78 82
161 – Altaaf Bux 79 82, Sean Bradley 83 78, Rourke van der Spuy 81 80
162 – Erhard Lambrechts 78 84
164 – Makhetha Mazibuko 79 85
165 – N.J. Arnoldi 81 84, Coert Groenewald 80 85
WDN – Gert Myburgh 86 WDN
RTD – Matthew Carvell RTD RTD, Jason Froneman 81 RTD
Photo: Petri Oeschger/Sunshine Tour/Gallo Images
