It’s the old Ernie at Glendower as Kruger shares lead
JOHANNESBURG: Jbé Kruger and England’s Andy Sullivan share the lead on 6-under-par 66, but leafy, tigerish and immaculate Glendower yesterday was just like the old days in 1992 for Ernie Els.
That was when as an outrageously talented 22-year-old he won the South African Open, Lexington PGA and SA Masters – this country’s so-called grand slam – inside five weeks with Simon Masilo on the bag.
The Big Easy and Masilo were back together again for the 104th edition of the SA Open yesterday and the 45year-old Els, hitting iron shots throughout the morning just as well as he did when he was world No 1, breezed around this treacherous layout in 67 to find himself just one off the pace alongside Richard Sterne and Denmark’s Lasse Jensen.
“Ernie was a role model for me growing up and to be one ahead of him in the SA Open, our biggest tournament, feels great especially since he’s so tall and I’m so small,” chuckled Kruger, who closed with a sensational 65 here last year to tie for second behind winner Morten Orum Madsen from Denmark.
“The greens today were just perfect,” Kruger added. “You hit your putt on line and it’ll go in and I putted really well today.”
On a thunderstorm interrupted afternoon, “Spaceman” Sullivan’s round included a run on his inward loop in which he dipped 5-under-par through four holes from the 12th, going birdie-birdie-birdieeagle (at the 15th where he chipped in from 40 feet.
The Englishman won a trip into space for a hole-in-one in last year’s KLM Open on the European Tour but hasn’t taken it up yet as he is not entirely sure he’s ready to be shot up into space, especially after seeing the movie Gravity.
For the fans, though, yesterday for the most part was all about Els. “I’ve won five SA Opens and Simon was with me for all five, as well as about a third of my 70 tournament wins, so he’s been a big part of my career, incredible really,” said the man who as from this No 2, par-5, 509m. On the tee-box there’s a wait and Ernie Els notices Zimbabwe’s Marc Cayeux standing nearby. Brilliant, bighitting Cayeux won nine times on the Sunshine Tour before being involved in an horrific car accident in 2010. His left foot was almost severed from his leg and his right femur badly damaged. After numerous operations, It was only just over three months ago that he was able to walk without the aid of crutches again. Els asks him how he’s feeling. “Man, it hurts (emotionally) to be out here and not playing,” he says. “But it’s also inspiring me and giving me hope that I’ll be back one day.” Cayeux, in spite of what he’s been through, hasn’t lost his keen sense of humour. “Seven months ago they had to shorten my left leg by 3cm to get me level again, and at least I’m not walking in circles anymore!” year’s SA Open has been appointed the tournament’s player host and ambassador, his role being to help lift the stature of the event in world terms.
“To be honest I was a bit nervous on the first tee this morning,” he said after his sixbirdie return. “But once I got going it felt like the old days again. I’ve always had really good support in South Africa, and it was wonderful to see all the people out there today.”
Els has switched from his long putter, which becomes endangered next year, to a short one and is becoming used to it. “The lines and the feel are starting to feel good.”
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