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Ken Borland



Sterne & Kieffer share the lead 0

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Ken

South Africa’s Richard Sterne and Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer signed for eight-under-par 63s on the West Course to lead the Joburg Open after the first round of the Sunshine Tour/European Tour co-sanctioned event at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club on Thursday.

Sterne, the 2008 champion, continued to prove that he is over the back problems that plagued him for two years as he produced a flawless round with six birdies and an eagle.

Kieffer, the 22-year-old who hails from former world number one Martin Kaymer’s home city of Dusseldorf, is a rookie on the European Tour after finishing 14th in the 2012 Challenge Tour, but he putted superbly to collect five birdies on the front nine and three coming in.

There were five golfers within the top 11 who opened the tournament on the tougher East Course, with Durbanite Bryce Easton leading the way with a seven-under-par 65 on the par-72 layout, while compatriots Jake Redman, Trevor Fisher Junior, Allan Versfeld and Tyrone Ferreira were on six-under.

American Peter Uihlein, the world’s number one amateur in 2010, Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren and South Africans Tyrone Mordt and MJ Daffue were the other golfers on six-under, having all played the par-71 West Course.

Espen Kofstad, the 2012 Challenge Tour order of merit winner, was tied for the lead on eight-under-par as he reached the 18th hole on the West Course, but found trouble off the tee and on the green to post a triple-bogey seven and slide back into a tie for 12th on five-under.

Sterne’s eagle came on the par-five 507-metre ninth hole when he chipped in from just short of the green and the Pretoria product said the key to his round was minimising mistakes.

“Some days it feels good and everything just kind of happens. Golf is strange – you’ve got to hit the right kind of shots at the right time.

I’ve been minimising the mistakes and I hit 17 greens [in regulation] today, so I was never really in trouble at all,” Sterne said.

Fisher, voted the Sunshine Tour’s Players’ Player of the Year earlier this week, had the most topsy-turvy round of the frontrunners, with eight birdies and two bogeys and he admitted afterwards that he was struggling with nerves and the sense of expectation that came with the award.

For Easton, the highlight of his superb round was a hole-in-one on the par-three 12th hole, the first of his career, and worth about R100 000 of free accommodation from the Hilton Hotel for the 25-year-old.

Easton, who won twice on the Sunshine Tour last year, said he was looking for more consistency in the co-sanctioned events.

“I want to play more consistently and compete more in these bigger events. Last year I had a couple of wins, but I didn’t play so well in these co-sanctioned tournaments,” Easton said.

Two-time champion Charl Schwartzel was purring along nicely on the East Course as he posted a four-under-par 68, leaving him tied for 25th alongside George Coetzee, who played the West Course.

But defending champion Branden Grace, playing in the same three-ball as Schwartzel, could only manage a level-par 72.

Kaymer aiming to be a star like Langer 0

Posted on January 08, 2013 by Ken

Martin Kaymer may have reached the moon in winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club, but there is no doubt the German is still aiming for the stars.

His two-shot victory at Sun City was his first since the HSBC Champions in Shanghai in November 2011 and, having been ranked the world’s number one golfer early that year, Kaymer is trying to reignite a career that has seen him sink to 32nd in the rankings.

Kaymer’s winning score of eight-under-par 280 was the highest in the NGC since Jim Furyk’s 282 in 2005 and while the 27-year-old may not have set the Gary Player Country Club alight, there was much to admire in his calm efficiency and composure under pressure as he mastered daunting conditions better than anyone else in the star-studded field.

Kaymer followed Bernhard Langer as only the second German to be ranked number one in the world and the Ryder Cup hero admitted that his countryman has been an inspiration. Langer claimed the first half of a German double at Sun City when he won the Champions Challenge for the senior golfers on Saturday.

“Bernhard has always been a very big help, even at the Ryder Cup, he gave me advice which I could use for regular tournaments like this too. Everyone was talking about a German double, so there was a bit more pressure on me. But I’m very proud to have my name on that path at the ninth green and to be part of the special circle of winners,” Kaymer said.

Part of Kaymer’s bad run has been down to swing changes he has made and he said he would consider 2012 to be a success because of the progress he has made in that department.

“I’ve won once in 2012 and it was a very good year for me because I made progress with my swing. I am hitting the ball well and I’m very happy with the way that I’m playing.

“In golf you need a lot of patience and it’s just a matter of sticking to your plan. I have another 20 years ahead of me, maybe even 30 if you look at Bernhard,” Kaymer said.

Kaymer will now return to Mettmann in Germany for his end-of-year holiday and bask in his successful end to 2012.

He can reflect on the confidence he has gained from his key role in Europe’s extraordinary Ryder Cup triumph and returning to the winner’s circle on an individual basis at Sun City, while he has bedded down the changes to his swing.

Kaymer will return to action in Abu Dhabi on January 17 and warm to the challenge of steadily climbing back up those world rankings.

 

Langer not as dominant but still victorious 0

Posted on January 07, 2013 by Ken

Bernhard Langer’s dominance under sunny skies was not quite as pronounced when it clouded over at the Gary Player Country Club on Saturday, but the German still claimed victory in the Nedbank Champions Challenge in  relatively easy fashion.

Langer led the seniors’ competition by four strokes overnight and, even though Jay Haas shot an even-par 72 to narrow the gap, the two-time Masters champion could afford to shoot a two-over-par 74 and still win by two shots.

Langer, who won the Nedbank Golf Challenge in 1985 and 1991, said the victory made up for last year’s runners-up finish to Mark Calcavecchia when he surrendered the lead in the final round.

“It’s very satisfying because of what happened last year. It still came down to the end because the wind was very tricky and I missed more greens, which makes bogeys inevitable. But Jay was also very solid today, he drove the ball terrifically and he was good with his wedges too. To be fair, he was a bit unlucky with a few putts,” the gracious Langer said.

The tournament became a two-horse race with Ian Woosnam only managing a 72 on Saturday to finish five strokes adrift, while defending champion Calcavecchia fared even worse, slumping to a 13-over-par 85.

Haas put some pressure on Langer with a flawless inward nine and Langer was in some difficulty on the 14th hole, when he had just a two-stroke lead and he faced a tricky up-and-down for par.

“It was fantastic to get that up-and-down on 14 and then on 15 I was hitting out of the semi-rough, a very tricky second shot. It landed perfectly but then it took off downwind and finished right at the back of the green. I had a 40-45 foot putt with about three feet of break, but I hit it absolutely brilliantly, with the perfect speed, for a crucial birdie,” Langer said.

The birdie gave Langer a three-shot lead with just three holes to play and he could afford a bogey at the par-four 17th after his approach shot slid off left into the water short of the green. But, after the drop, he hit a wonderful chip shot to within a few feet of the hole.

The 55-year-old then pushed his tee shot on the final hole into the semi-rough and decided to lay up rather than risk letting Haas back into the contest.

“I had a horrible lie, so I could just chip the ball out and I then made a great up-and-down with a seven-iron and a putt from about 10 feet,” Langer said.

Haas had begun the final round shakily with two bogeys in his first three holes, before a birdie at the par-five ninth kept him in touch, egging him on to a brave challenge on the back nine. But the putts just refused to drop for the American.

– http://www.sapa.org.za/secure/view.cfm?id=3611567&year=2012&srce=search&

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