Keith Horne never played a regular major. The South African has a 1-shot lead in the Senior PGA
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Keith Horne of South Africa overcame the nerves of not feeling comfortable with his swing by posting a 6-under 66 for a one-shot lead Saturday in the Senior PGA Championship, giving him a shot at the biggest win of his career. Horne never contended in a regular major championship because he never played in one.
He has nine Sunshine Tour wins in South Africa, none in the two decades he spent on the Asian Tour. His best world ranking was No. 173 in the world.
But he was holding his own against past major champions like Stewart Cink and Vijay Singh. “There’s nothing better than playing in a big golf tournament and feeling in full control of your golf swing, but you know, that’s not the case this week,” Horne said. “It's not like it’s terrible or anything like that, but it’s enough to make me nervous about just standing up and swinging it at the target.
” He managed just fine, his lone bogey coming on the opening hole. He was at 11-under 205, one shot ahead of Cink (70), Steve Allan (68), Scott Hend (72) and Thammanoon Sriroj of Thailand, who had thrills and a few spills in his round of 66. Sriroj had an eagle on the par-5 third hole, only to make double bogey on the par-5 seventh.
He followed that with six birdies over the next seven holes and was tied for the lead until closing with a bogey on the 18th at Concession Golf Club. “At the round start I had the par, par and eagle. I was feeling pretty good,” Sriroj said.