Incheon, Korea, September 22: South Africa’s Jbe Kruger ended his seven-year title drought on the Asian Tour by signing off with a six-under-par 65 to win The 35^th Shinhan Donghae Open by two shots on Sunday.

Kruger has not won another Asian Tour title since his lone win in India in 2012. However, he showed he was ready to make his comeback to the winner’s circle with a commanding performance where he did not drop a single shot in his last 37 holes at the Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club.

Trailing overnight leader Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe by two shots, the South African made his move quickly with a birdie on the second hole, followed by another pair of birdies on holes seven and eight.

After making another birdie on 11, Kruger knew he would have a chance of winning and charged ahead with three straight pars before pulling ahead with another set of birdies on 15 and 16 to eventually close with a winning total of 15-under-par 269.

Korean-American Chan Kim matched Kruger’s final round efforts with another 65 of his own to finish in outright second place while Vincent could not hold on to his overnight lead, slipping to third place after posting a 71 at The 35^th Shinhan Donghae Open which is being tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Korean PGA and Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO).

Ends.

Did you know?

• With this win Jbe Kruger secures a two-year exemption on the Asian Tour after being ranked 95th on the Order of Merit the previous week.
• The South African did not make a bogey in his last 37 holes of the tournament, going back to the 17th hole on Friday.
• He had a Driving Distance average of 286 yards, Driving accuracy of 67.86%, Greens in Regulation (GIR) of 76.39 and Putts per GIR of 1.69.
• Kruger last won on the Asian Tour in the 2012 Avantha Masters in India, a tournament that was co-sanctioned by the European Tour.
• Hailing from Northern Cape province in South Africa, he has also recorded four career wins on the Sunshine Tour. The latest title coming at the Sun Carnival City Challenge in 2017.
• The 33-year-old got his nickname Jbe from the initials in his full name, James Barry Kruger.
• He currently holds the record for most Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) tournaments played in a 12 month period: 41.
• Chan Kim is a former member of the Asian Tour. He topped the Asian Tour Qualifying School in 2013.
• He finished third on the JGTO money list in 2017, thanks to three wins.
• Kim came in second at the Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open on the Japan Golf Tour in July where he earned his spot to The Open.
• He is currently leading the driving distance stats category (320.34) on the JGTO.
• Scott Vincent, the only Zimbabwean member on Tour, has never finished outside the top-three in his last four outings at the Shinhan Donghae Open.
• He finished tied-second in 2016, tied-third in 2017, second last year and third this week.
• Vincent claimed his first international win at the Landic Challenge 7 held on the Japan Challenge Tour in June.
• He has not missed a single cut in eight starts so far this season.
• Vincent was crowned the Asian Tour Rookie of the Year in 2016 after ending his season in 28th place on the Order of Merit.

Jbe Kruger (Rsa) Fourth round 65 (-6) Total 269 (-15)

It all changed on the seventh hole when I made my second birdie and I could feel the momentum then. It was in the Lord’s plan whether I would win again today. But as for me, I started to feel good and after the 11th hole, I had a good feeling it was my time again. I would say what went right today was probably my putting. I obviously didn’t hit it as well as I could have but my chipping and my putting saved me multiple times and that’s why I didn’t make bogeys. I’m a professional and this is what I do for a living, so I will probably go where the money is, go there and play well. I have been a big fan of playing in Japan, but you can’t really get into that Tour if you haven’t gone to Q school. But now, things have changed. This course is a Jack Nicklaus design golf course. It’s the same as my own course, so the first time I came here, it literally looks identical. It has the same lines, the same kind of grass. Everything is exactly the same and it almost feels like a home away from home. So, you know I’ve heard someone say “horses for courses” and that’s the truth, because you generally play well at the same courses all year long.

Chan Kim (Usa) Fourth round 65 (-6) Total 271 (-13)

Yeah I played really solid and gave a good fight today. Obviously, you know, we were expecting some bad weather but it held up pretty well. It was pretty windy but it was definitely scorable conditions. It’s quite a bitter pill to swallow after finishing so close. I finished second and third quite a bit this year, so I’m just still waiting for that first win of the season.

Scott Vincent (Zim) Fourth round 71 (Even) Total 273 (-11)

It was just tough, not a lot went my way and I didn’t play very well. You know, I left a few shots out there as well but when you look at the overall picture, I would have had to at least shoot four under today to match that score which is going to be tough any day out here. So, the way Jbe played it was going to be tough to beat either way. But obviously with my position going in, I would have liked to have a slightly different result. But hey, I still haven’t finished outside of the top-three, so still not bad. I learned a lot and got a lot to work on, but heading in the right direction. I put myself in contention to win a tournament, that’s important for me. You know this has been a big tournament for me in my career, where it’s kind of boosted the rest of the year, so I’m hoping that this is going to do the same and carry me forward in these next few events.

Incheon, Korea, September 21: Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent continued to hold on to his lead after signing for a third round three-under-par 68 as Typhoon Tapah threatens to affect the final round of the 35^th Shinhan Donghae Open.

The centre of the typhoon will be approximately 300km away from the Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club on Sunday and in the event the final round cannot be completed, regardless of the number of holes completed, the tournament will be declared as a 54-hole tournament.

Depending on the weather situation on the final round, Vincent stands on the verge of lifting his maiden Asian Tour title, having come so close to winning on several occasions since he made his debut on the Tour.

The Zimbabwean’s three-day total of 11-under-par 202 was enough to give him a two-shot advantage over Korea’s Sung Kang, South Africa’s Jbe Kruger and Japan’s Shugo Imahira who returned with matching 204 total to share second place.

Vincent has never finished outside the top-three in his last three outings at the Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club and despite stumbling early with a bogey on the second hole, he demonstrated his resolve by bouncing back with a pair of birdies on the sixth and seventh holes.

He dropped another shot again on the par-four 10^th but recovered quickly again with birdies on 11 and 13 before a closing birdie on 18 allowed him to pull ahead from the chasing pack with a two-shot cushion at The 35^th Shinhan Donghae Open which is being tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Korean PGA and Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO).

Ends.

Did you know?

• Scott Vincent, the only Zimbabwean member on Tour, has never finished outside the top-three in his last three outings at the Shinhan Donghae Open.
• He finished tied-second in 2016, tied-third in 2017 and second last year.
• Vincent claimed his first international win at the Landic Challenge 7 held on the Japan Challenge Tour in June.
• He notched four top-10s in Australia, Japan, Korea and Malaysia to sit in ninth place on the latest Asian Tour Order of Merit. He has not missed a single cut in eight starts so far this season.
• Vincent was crowned the Asian Tour Rookie of the Year in 2016 after ending his season in 28th place on the Order of Merit.
• Jbe Kruger has won once on the Asian Tour in the 2012 Avantha Masters in India, a tournament that was co-sanctioned by the European Tour.
• Hailing from Northern Cape province in South Africa, he has also recorded four career wins on the Sunshine Tour. The latest title coming at the Sun Carnival City Challenge in 2017.
• The 33-year-old got his nickname Jbe from the initials in his full name, James Barry Kruger.
• Sunghoon Kang has previously won one title on the Asian Tour, the 2013 CJ Invitational Hosted by KJ Choi.
• The 32-year-old Korean also has victories in two other events. The Kolon Korean Open the week following his win at CJ Invitational, and most notably the 2019 AT&T Byron Nelson on the PGA Tour.
• This year, Kang finished seventh in the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black, his best finish in a Major to date.
• He also had his best career season on the PGA TOUR finishing 45th in the FedEx Cup standings.

Ends.

Scott Vincent (Zim) Second round 67 (-4) Total 134 (-8)

It was just really solid round, I played great. Obviously, I started on the tougher nine in my eyes, the back nine, and got to three under that side so it was just like the best way I could have started.

Then things were a little shaky on the back nine (course front nine), but I held it together and shot one under that side so yeah, just a nice solid day. On the back nine there’s just not that many birdie chances, so you have to hit some really good shots but yeah, it’s a good course and it’s playing tough. I like the way it [the course] sets up. I don’t feel that uncomfortable too often out there. You know, I feel fairly free so for me it’s just the way it sets up. The way it maybe follows my game, it just it just feels right. I think having a bit of distance here definitely helps. You know, the rough is tough so the further up you can be, the less club in. And it makes a huge difference.

You know if you’re trying to get out of this with a seven or six-iron, good luck. You need you need a pitching wedge or nine iron.

Jbe Kruger (Rsa) Second round 67 (-4) Total 136 (-6)

It is unexpected to say the least. You know, like always say I haven’t said it for a long time because I haven’t been in contention. You know, the Lord Jesus knows what he’s doing. And that’s about all I can say. I’ve liked the golf course from the first day. You know, it’s designed by Jack Nicklaus which is the same as my own course. So it’s, it looks familiar to me. It’s the anticipation of things to come and fighting to be in contention is definitely in my blood. It’s the process of coming back into contention and I literally have to take it step by step.

Paul Peterson (Usa) Second round 68 (-3) Total 136 (-6)

I felt like I stayed patient out there all day. My iron game wasn’t quite as spot on as it was yesterday, but I still managed to take advantage of the opportunities that I had today. I’m very pleased to be able to bounce back with a birdie each time I bogeyed. That kind of helped me to keep the momentum. It was a little bit cooler today and but the course definitely played a lot longer in the morning than it did yesterday. So yeah, I felt like it played maybe a little bit more difficult with some of the pin locations. And then obviously having a couple more clubs into some of the par-fours, but I was still able to put together nice round. I feel like my game has been heading in a positive direction for a while now. It’s just putting together four good rounds and getting the results. I feel like my short games got a lot better last four or five months and just got to continue to drive the ball well and stay aggressive with iron shots.

Pavit Tangkamolprasert (Tha) Second round 68 (-3) Total 138 (-4) I’m very happy with my game today. I just had one bad hole which I hit into the water twice from the tee and that caused me four shots on the fourth hole. But overall, my driver was very good. Most of my shots landed on the fairway and I was able to attack the pins better today. I’ve to stick closely to my game plan and continue to keep the ball on the fairway and avoid the rough this weekend. I have been playing well since Sarawak, so I’m very confident with my game right now.

Incheon, Korea, September 20: Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent continued to show why he is one of the tournament favourites when he signed for another four-under-par 67 to take the second round lead at The 35^th Shinhan Donghae Open on Friday.

The Zimbabwean, who has never finished outside the top-three in his last three outings at the Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club was ready for another battle- one which he hopes he can emerge victorious this time around.

Vincent demonstrated his intent of winning when he raced towards the turn in 32 after marking his card with three birdies. He then birdied the par-five second before dropping his only shot of the day at the next hole.  

Another birdie on the sixth hole before finishing his round with three straight pars for a two-day total of eight-under-par 134 would eventually give him a two-shot cushion over a quartet of players.

They include American Paul Peterson, Korea’s Hyungjoon Lee, Japan’s Shugo Imahira and South Africa’s Jbe Kruger, who are tied for second with their 136 total.

Peterson is also making his push towards the winner’s circle again after he returned with a 68 while Kruger believes he could likely end his seven-year drought on the Asian Tour with some divine help at  at The 35^th Shinhan Donghae Open which is being tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Korean PGA and Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO).

Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert also displayed his return to form when he signed for a 68 to end into the weekend rounds in tied-10^th place, four shots back of Vincent.

The Thai has only missed the cut twice out of 10 starts on the Asian Tour and was seemingly in control until a quadruple bogey and bogey on the fourth and fifth holes respectively marred an otherwise perfect card.

The weekend cut was set at one-over 143 with 65 players making it into the final two rounds.

Ends.

Did you know?

• Scott Vincent, the only Zimbabwean member on Tour, has never finished outside the top-three in his last three outings at the Shinhan Donghae Open.
• He finished tied-second in 2016, tied-third in 2017 and second last year.
• Vincent claimed his first international win at the Landic Challenge 7 held on the Japan Challenge Tour in June.
• He notched four top-10s in Australia, Japan, Korea and Malaysia to sit in ninth place on the latest Asian Tour Order of Merit. He has not missed a single cut in eight starts so far this season.
• Vincent was crowned the Asian Tour Rookie of the Year in 2016 after ending his season in 28th place on the Order of Merit.
• Jbe Kruger has won once on the Asian Tour in the 2012 Avantha Masters in India, a tournament that was co-sanctioned by the European Tour.
• Hailing from Northern Cape province in South Africa, he has also recorded four career wins on the Sunshine Tour. The latest title coming at the Sun Carnival City Challenge in 2017.
• The 33-year-old got his nickname Jbe from the initials in his full name, James Barry Kruger.
• Paul Peterson secured his maiden Asian Tour title when won the Leopalace21 Myanmar Open in 2018 by two shots.
• He also won the D+D Real Czech Masters on the European Tour in 2016.
• This year the American has split his time between the Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour and European Tour, with a tied-13th in the 100th New Zealand Open as his best result.
• The 31-year-old Peterson’s best year on the Asian Tour was in 2015 when he finished fifth on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, posting six top-10s with earnings totaling US$289,870.
• Pavit Tangkamolprasert had his breakthrough year in 2016 when he won the Venetian Macau Open, his lone Asian Tour victory to date.
• This was also his best season on the Asian Tour so far, finishing 12th on the Order of Merit and keeping his Tour card for the first time.
• The 30-year-old Thai is a six-time winner on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), including four wins in the 2014 season when he topped the ADT Order of Merit by a mere US$250.

Ends.