ONLY THREE KENYANS MAKE CUT AS SOUTH AFRICA’S PORTEUS TAKES TWO SHOT LEAD AT KAREN
Dismas Indiza in action at Karen.
By DANIELLA APIYO
Local players had a bad day in office today at the on going Kenya Open Golf Championships at the par 72 Karen Golf and Country Club.
Out of the 28 local players who entered the premier event which is also part of the European Challenge Tour, only thre made the cut, to compete in the money bracket for the two final rounds.
The trio, Dimas Indiza (-6), Brian Njoroge (-2) and Mathew Omondi (-2) will now be the country’s focus in the final two rounds. Indiza and Njoroge also made the cut during last year’s tournament, but this could be the worst performance of the locals at the competition which has never been won by a Kenyan player. This year the cut was projected at two under.
South Africa’s Haydn Porteus took the stranglehold with a two shot lead as he now has 13 under par 131, with French born Portuguese Jose-Filipe Lima who was on top of the leader board on the first day, settling for the second spot on 11 under par 133.
Indiza who managed a round of three under on the first day, today played another round of three under. He started on a high note with two birdies on the par four first hole and par five hole two, parred par five hole three before picking another shot on the par four hole four, then played a bogey on the par four hole eight for a first nine score of 34.
In the second nine, the hard hitting player fumbled with two back-to-back bogeys on the par four holes 12 and 13, but recovered with three birdies on the par five hole 15, par four hole a17 and par five hole 18 for a score of 35 to remain Kenya’s main hopes in the competition despite the fact that he trailing the leader by seven shots.
Haydn 21, today played a round of seven under par 65 to enter the final two rounds as a favourite. He sunk a birdie on the par four first hole, dropped a shot on the par five second hole and recovered with another birdie on the par five hole three. He picked two more birdies on holes seven and nine for a first nine score of 33.
In the second nine where he dropped no shot, he posted two birdies on the par four holes 12 and 13, then sunk two more on holes 15 and 18 for a score of 32.
Leader board after Round Two:
1. Haydn Porteus SA -13 131
2. Jose-Filipe Lima Por -11 133
T3. Cyril Bouniol Fra -9 135
T3. Brandon Stone SA -9 135
T5. Jaako Makitalo Fin -8 136
T5. Victor Riu Fra -8 136
T5. George Woolgar Eng -8 136
T5. Luis De Jager SA -8 136
T5. Damian Ulrich Swi -8 136 pandora earrings pandora earrings