SMU’s Kraft announces plans to go professional

By Katy Roden

Recent SMU graduate Kelly Kraft joined six amateurs on the Augusta National Golf Course this weekend for the 2012 Masters.
 
He had a rough start on his first round on Thursday.
 
He had a double-bogie and was 2-over par after the first hole. Kraft parred the next four holes but bogied the sixth and fell to 3-over par.
 
He continued to par the seventh, eighth and ninth holes. He shot another bogie on the tenth hole.
 
He was 4-over at this point but after a par followed by two birdies he was back at 2-over. Kraft got his third-straight birdie on hole 14 and stood at 1-over for the tournament.
 
A birdie and two pars - a 350-yard par 4. Hole four was another par but suffered a bogie on No. 5 and was 3-over in tournament.
 
The projected cut at the time was 5-over.
 
He bogied holes eight and nine and was at risk of not making the cut to continue in the tournament.
 
After another bogey on No. 11 he was 6-over par. He shot a birdie on hole 12 and par on 13, 14 and 15.

 Kraft shot a great birdie on the par-three 16th hole and then par on No. 17. He bogied the final hole and finished at 5-over with a score of 75.
 
He made the cut by one shot at the end of the day.
 
He was the first American amateur to make the cut since 2005.
 
Early Saturday morning Kraft was the first golfer to hitthe course.
 
He suffered a bogey on the first hole, par on the second and another bogey on the third.
 
He was 7-over at this point. Kraft shot a par on No.4 and bogied five, just as he did the day before.
 
Holes seven and eight were both pars. Kraft shot a birdie on the 460-yard, par-four ninth hole and another birdie on hole 10.
 
The streak ended on 11 with a bogey and was back to 6-over for the tournament. Kraft shot pars for 12, 13 and 14 but double-bogied No. 15. On hole 16 and 17 he shot par and was 3-over for the day and 8-over for the tournament.
 
Unfortunately Kraft's round ended with a double-bogey and he finished the day with a 5-over 77 and 10-over in the tournament.
 
Sunday was Kraft's last round as an amateur — he announced that he was going pro after the final Master's round, declining his amateur invitations to the U.S. Open and British Open that came with his trophy for winning the U.S. Amateur Championship in August 2011.
 
He opened his last round of the Masters with a bogey on hole one, par on second and a birdie on hole 3. He began to struggle through hole 7, with three bogeys and one double-bogey on the par-three No. 6.
 
Things looked up for Kraft from here on. He shot par for the next five holes, a birdie on No.13 and then a pair of pars on 14 and 15.
 
He ended the round with a bogey on 16, par on 17 and an unfortunate double-bogey on 18. Kraft bogied or double-bogied the last hole in all four rounds.
 
He finished 8-over for the day, 18-over in the tournament with a score of 80 for round four. His longest drive of the tournament was 284 yards. He had the highest score of the three amateurs in the tournament with 306.
 
Kraft announced that he would go pro after the Masters Tournament and is expected to make the official statement Monday.