Kruyswijk and Yin win from the front
South African Jacques Kruyswijk and American Angela Yin survived final-round challenges to win from the front on the DP World and LPGA tours.
Overnight leader Kruyswijk claimed his maiden DP World Tour title, winning the Magical Kenya Open by two shots in Nairobi despite falling behind England’s John Parry after five holes.
In the Honda LPGA Thailand, Yin saw her five-shot lead overnight lead completely erased by Japanese rookie Akie Iwai, who played her first 12 holes in blistering eight under par to draw level.
Yin responded with three straight birdies to edge a shot in front of Iwai, who birdied the 14th and 15th to keep the pressure on her rival.
In the end, the Japanese sponsor’s invitee bogeyed the 17th to fall two behind, and while she eagled the last to shoot 61, Yin made birdie to card a bogey-free 65 and win her second LPGA title by a shot with a new tournament record low of 28-under-par
"I wasn't that comfortable because Akie shot 10-under the first day, and this course is very gettable,” Yin said. “So I just had to keep my head down.”
Leona Maguire also kept her head down after starting the day with a triple-bogey eight and birdied the fifth, seventh, eighth, 16th and 18th for a 70 that left her tied for 33rd on six-under heading into this week’s HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore.
As for Kruyswijk, he did not put a foot wrong in as he carded four birdies in a 67 to finish two shots clear of Parry on 18-under par after a bogey-free weekend
The 32-year-old started the day with a one-stroke lead but trailed halfway leader Parry after five holes as the Englishman made back-to-back birdies at the fourth and fifth.
Kruyswijk replied by rolling in lengthy birdie putts on the sixth and seventh to lead by one at the turn before getting up and down from sand at the 10th to go two strokes clear.
Parry birdied the 12th to cut the gap, but Kruyswijk never looked flustered, and as his rival bogeyed the 14th, he birdied the 16th to go three ahead.
Parry birdied the last to shoot 68 and finish solo second on 16-under behind the delighted South African.
"It's special,” said Kruyswijk, who moved to eighth in the Race to Dubai to boost his confidence heading into this week’s South African Open in Durban.
“I'm a little bit lost for words, but this is for my family back home, my friends, my team, and this is for South Africa.
"The Investec South African Open Championship is special for all of us South Africans, and I'm super excited to be a winner next week. I'm pumped to get home."
