Five-birdie start for Kingston
James Kingston and Martin Erlandsson won’t forget today’s start of the new European Tour season in a hurry.
South African James Kingston and Swede Martin Erlandsson won’t forget today’s start of the new European Tour season in a hurry.
But for very different reasons.
Kingston, back on home soil, birdied the first five holes of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek, but Erlandsson went to the turn in a shocking nine over par 46.
That included triple bogeys on both the 413-yard 14th and 541-yard 18th, the hole where Ernie Els threw away the title two years ago when he also took eight when leading by two.
Els, making his first return since that day, was among the later starters and Kingston was determined to give the ‘Big Easy’ something to think about.
Winner of the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Germany in September and a former South African Open champion, the 44-year-old’s flying start took him into an early one-stroke lead over compatriots Thomas Aiken and Tjaart Van der Walt, Spaniard Pablo Martin and France’s Gregory Bourdy.
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