Published July 17, 2008 on September 22, 2019

Kruger Ends Seven-Year Title Drought at the Shinhan Donghae Open

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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 35th 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 35th Shinhan Donghae Open which is being tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Korean PGA and Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO).

 

Leading Scores after round 4 of The 35th Shinhan Donghae Open being played at the par 71, 7238 Yards Bear’s Best Cheongna GC course (am – denotes amateur):
269 – Jbe Kruger (RSA) 69-67-68-65.
271 – Chan Kim (USA) 66-71-69-65.
273 – Scott Vincent (ZIM) 67-67-68-71.
274 – Sung Kang (KOR) 69-70-65-70.
275 – Rikuya Hoshino (JPN) 74-67-66-68.
276 – Shugo Imahira (JPN) 66-70-68-72.
277 – Jeongwoo Ham (KOR) 68-69-71-69, Matthew Griffin (AUS) 70-72-65-70.
278 – Shaun Norris (RSA) 74-69-67-68, Sanghee Lee (KOR) 69-73-66-70, Hyungjoon Lee (KOR) 70-66-70-72.