Ken Borland

Keith Horne was 16-under-par after four rounds in the 60s and shooting 66 and 65 over the weekend in last year’s Africa Open, but that was only good enough for a tie for ninth, and the well-travelled South African believes he can improve on that when the 2015 edition of the co-sanctioned European/Sunshine Tour event gets underway at East London Golf Club on Thursday.

Horne has been a consistent performer in the Africa Open, finishing in ties for 18^th, 18^th, 21^st, 62^nd, 32^nd and ninth since the tournament moved to East London in 2009, but he is still heartsore over the 75s he shot in the final rounds of 2012 and 2013.

“I’ve played pretty well here before, I’ve been in contention but then I tend to have a bad round somewhere. I was in the top-10 last year, but I feel I haven’t reached my potential yet here because I feel very comfortable on the course,” Horne said at East London Golf Club on Wednesday.

Horne’s Africa Open performance was his best on the European Tour last year, and the 43-year-old admitted he was a bit jaded.

“After five years of playing in Europe and 13 years of travelling as a pro, I felt a bit flat so I didn’t play a full schedule last year. I took a large percentage of the year off and now I feel refreshed and ready, I’m a lot more relaxed,” Horne said.

The seven-time Sunshine Tour winner was born in Durban and grew up on the KwaZulu-Natal coast, so playing in the wind in East London holds no fears for him.

“I’m not as good in the wind as I used to be because I’ve lived in Joburg for the last 13 years, but I grew up on the coast and I have the technique and mind-set to play in the wind. It’s mostly about mental preparation, you can’t fight the wind, you’ve got to use it and accept it,” Horne said.

He has averaged 30.22 putts per round in 2015, putting him 140th in the European Tour rankings, but he is really looking forward to the greens in the Eastern Cape.

“I’m also used to the greens on the coast and the greens here are as good as any coastal greens I’ve seen. They’re the best they’ve been here for the last five or six years, so kudos to the green keeping staff, they’re in magnificent condition. They’re not as slow as they’ve been in the past, they’re rolling beautifully and I think a lot of putts are going to be made,” Horne said.

The father of two daughters will also be campaigning in Asia this year, having finished in 11th place in the Tour Qualifying School in Thailand in January.

“I’m going back, I had good seasons in Asia in 2009 and 2010 and I enjoy it there, more than Europe in fact. But the money’s in Europe … ,” Horne admitted.

The money’s also good in East London, with a prize pool of R14.5 million and a first prize of just over R2 million.

But the East London Golf Club course needs to be overcome first and, especially when the wind blows, it is a short course with many hidden dangers.

“East London seems to bring out the best in our golfers but you can go out and think you’re going to shoot very low, flopping wedges into all the greens, but the course has got teeth. There are birdies out there, but you have to keep double-bogeys off the card. If you take the course for granted, it can really bite you,” Horne said with the benefit of years of experience.

http://www.africaopengolf.com/PressReleases/2015/20-refreshed-horne-hunting-africa-open-glory.pdf

Englishman Andy Sullivan said he would be happy to play all his golf in Johannesburg after he added the Joburg Open title on Sunday to the South African Open he won seven weeks ago at Glendower, the 28-year-old sealing a two-shot triumph with a brilliant 66.

Sullivan won the national open in a dramatic playoff with Charl Schwartzel, impressing with his happy demeanour despite the tension down the stretch, and yesterday he was once again relaxed as he dropped just one shot in making up a three-shot deficit.

“I’ve been working hard with my coach and psychologist, but enjoying myself too. Every time I’m in contention, I wish I could bottle those emotions, it’s an unbelievable feeling and I seem to thrive on it.

“I wish I could play in Johannesburg every week! I felt really good down the stretch at Glendower and even better today. There wasn’t any pressure, I was very relaxed and it was just me and ‘Macca’ [caddy Sean McDonagh] having a laugh, a Saturday afternoon stroll on the golf course,” Sullivan said after his second European Tour title.

There were a handful of golfers in contention in the final round, with the lead changing hands several times, but the most serious challenges came from fellow Englishmen Anthony Wall and David Howell.

But both made a couple of crucial errors in the closing holes.

Wall bogeyed 15 after his approach slid off the green into the reeds surrounding the dam in front of the putting surface, while his drive on the final hole went under the trees on the left, forcing him to settle for par when he really needed at least a birdie to put pressure on Sullivan.

Howell sent his drive into the water on 14 which led to bogey, and then missed a crucial five-foot birdie putt on 15.

Sullivan himself was holding a tenuous one-shot lead when he found the water with his approach shot on the par-four 11^th, but a brilliant 25-foot pressure putt saw him limit the damage to just a bogey.

The man from the English midlands then closed out a thrilling win with a top-class finish, birdies on 15 and 18 sealing victory.

There was a tense moment on 18 when he left his eagle putt eight feet short of the hole and was left with a tricky, and crucial, birdie putt.

“I knew if I got a birdie on the last I’d have a really good chance of winning, but I left myself with a bit more than I would have liked. But I did not believe my second win would come so quickly, I thought it was unbelievable to win the SA Open but this is even better,” a beaming Sullivan said.

Overnight leader Wallie Coetsee missed several birdie putts as he shot a one-under-par 71 and finished in the bunch of runners-up on 15-under – Wall, Howell, Ireland’s Kevin Phelan and fellow South African Jaco van Zyl.

The iron play of Coetsee was just not sharp enough to get him closer to the flags, and he also missed out on one of the entries to the Open Championship which went to Sullivan, Wall and Howell after the tie-breaker of world golf ranking had been applied.

“I’ve never played in a major championship before, so obviously that’s massive. It will also be nice to put a stop to the stick of my manager and caddy, who have both played in majors, and it’s at St Andrew’s, the home of golf, on top of that,” Sullivan said.

One of the biggest smiles in golf is only getting bigger.

Ernie Els breezed to a five-under-par 67 in the morning and then made a clarion call for the organisers of the South African Open to make the rough even tougher on the first day at Glendower Golf Club yesterday, and his point was perhaps proved when Jbe’ Kruger and Andy Sullivan overtook him in the afternoon with 66s.

Just about everyone else was complaining about the thick, tangled grass off the fairways however, and Kruger produced the only bogey-free round of the day, his precise iron play being the key, particularly on a back nine that he studded with four birdies.

“I hit my irons very well today, considering that I only hit a couple of fairways. But the greens are very good and if you hit it straight, then there are a lot of birdies out there,” Kruger said.

Els alternated between driver and three-wood off the tee and it came off as he produced an impressive round that featured just one bogey, on the par-four 12^th.

“I was much better off the tee than I’ve been recently and I managed to hit quite a few fairways. I hit a few three-woods and when I used driver it came off as well. On quite a few holes, if you miss the fairway you’re finished, but I was more aggressive today, I was swinging freely and not steering the ball.

“But the organisers are getting soft, they had complaints and they cut the rough down this morning. You now can get decent lies in the rough and I hope they leave it to grow now again,” Els said.

Sullivan really put the wind up Kruger and Els as he charged to six-under with five birdies in seven holes from the eighth, capped by an eagle at the par-five 15^th. But the Englishman could only come home with three pars to ensure he and Kruger share first place, with Els a daunting figure just below them.

Driver was Sullivan’s instrument of choice and it set him up for six birdies overall. Even his double-bogey on the par-four fifth came from the middle of the fairway.

“I played really good golf, I took on the course, used driver as much as you can and it paid off. Generally I do drive the ball well, it’s a strength of mine, and I was swinging well and made the most of it,” Sullivan said.

Former champion Richard Sterne was tied for third with Els and Denmark’s Lasse Jensen on five-under, while Charl Schwartzel shot an encouraging four-under-par 68.

Thomas Aiken shot an up-and-down 70, as did George Coetzee, while Branden Grace was four-under-par through 12 holes before a single visit to the reeds at the par-three sixth derailed his round and he finished with a 71.

Spanish rookie Jordi Garcia Pinto and South African Erik van Rooyen will both be kicking themselves as they faltered on the closing holes to take the gloss off very good rounds.

Pinto bogeyed the last three holes but still managed to post a 68, while Van Rooyen dropped shots on 17 and 18 to slip back to three-under-par.

The affable Kruger, who finished second in the SA Open last year at Glendower was clearly delighted with his round, but was quick to express his happiness at Els’s successful return to the national Open.

“It was the perfect start after two weeks off, you couldn’t ask for a better way to get your confidence back. The rough was hectic and if you miss the fairway, you have to get lucky like I did on 18.

“It’s great for South African golf that Ernie is in contention, it’s because it’s Ernie Els and you simply have to respect him. But I’m one ahead of him, which is very nice!” Kruger said with an impish smile.