ON OFFER: A brand new Toyota Prado on offer for a hole-in-one on hole 13 at the on going Barclays Kenya Open at Muthaiga Golf Club.

By ENOCK NGOME

Denmark’s Lasse Jensen snatched the lead from compatriot Morten Madsen to take a joint leadership with Englishman Gary Lockerbie going into today’s final round of this year’s Barclays Bank Kenya Open Golf Championships at the par 71 Muthaiga Golf Club.
The duo are on eight under par 205 and carry a three shot lead into the final round that promises fireworks.
The leader of the first two rounds Madsen finished the day tied third on five under par 208 after playing a round of one over par 72.
Lockerbie played a long side Kenya’s Brian Njoroge and South Africa’s Shaun Norris, while Jensen played alongside England’s Mathew Cryer and Trent Leon of USA.
Njoroge replaced Dismas Indiza as the best placed local player, finishing the day tied fourth on four under par 209 after playing a cautious round of level par 71.
Njoroge now trails the leader with four shots and remains optimistic that anything could happen today as he plans to throw caution to the wind.
Indiza tumbled to position 22 with a single round to go, dipping 20 places from his second round second position.
Njoroge, 33, dropped a shot on the par three second hole, which has an Island green, but recovered with a birdie on the par five fourth and par four ninth for a first nine score of 35. In the second nine, he picked a shot on the par three 11th hole but dropped shots on the par four 12th and 14th for a score of 36.
Indiza will rue his day as he had a triple bogey on the par four 15th hole. He dropped two more shots and picked a single birdie to end the round on four over par 75 and a total of one under par 212.
Muthaiga’s Nicholas Rokoine continued with his recovery in the tournament after a poor start, as he finished the third round on one under par 212 after playing a round of two under par 69.
Stefan Andersen who is playing in the Open for the first time ever, also finished the day on one under after a double bogey on the par three 13th hole messed his round.
Sigona’s Ganeev Giddie ended the day on three over par 216, while Royal Nairobi Golf Club’s Anil Shah ended the third round on five over par 217.
Jensen who is ranked 47th in the Challenge Tour, bounced back after a lackluster perfoemnace in the first two rounds with a cameo performance on day three that saw him post six under par 65 for a total of eight under par 205.
On the first day, the 28 year-old player who turned professional in 2003, played two under and managed level par on the second round, but leaped to the limelight on a day that mattered and enters today’s final round as a favourite.
Jensen didn’t drop any shots yesterday, picking a birdie on the par four third, par four sixth and par four ninth for a first nine score of 33.
In the second nine, the Dutch player picked a birdie on the par five 10th, par three 13th and par five 18 for a score of 32.
For Lockerbie who is ranked 34th in the Challenge Tour, it was a day to remember as he managed a round of four under par 67 after picking six birdies and dropping two shots.
He had a birdie on the par three second hole, picked another shot on the par four sixth hole, but dropped a shot on the next par five hole seven for a first nine score of 35.
In the second nine, he started with a birdie on the par five 10th hole, dropped a single shot on the par four 12th, before recovering with birdies on the par four 14th and 15th and par five 18th for a score of 32. nike air max nike air max

PRIDE OF KENYA: Local pro Brian Njoroge follows his tee shot at the first hole yesterday. He finished the second round on four under. Photo by Peris Mukoko.

By DISMAS ONYANGO

Dismas Indiza leaped to the second overall position after the second round of the ongoing Barclays Bank Kenya Open at the Muthaiga Golf Club tied with two other players on five under, just a single shot off leader Morten Madsen.

He tied with Briton Seve Benson and Dutch Jurrian Van Der Vaart.

The Mumias player picked two birdies on the first nine and two in the second nine to lead five local players who made the cut. The others who made the cut that had been projected at one over were Vet Lab’s Brian Njoroge, Sigona’s Ganeev Giddie, Muthaiga’s Nicholas Rokoine and Royal’s Anil Shah.

Njoro finished the day as the second day as the second best placed local on four under and tied in the fifth spot.

It was the first time the 33 year old player made the cut at the premier event, on his second attempt at the event.

 “My expectations are quite high at the moment and I’m now hoping for a top 10 finish by the time the final round end. I am not under pressure, I am playing good golf and a top five finish will be even better,” said Njoroge.

He added: “Today just I struggled with my driver and I will have to work on it in the remaining rounds. The greens were, however, smooth today, better than yesterday.”

Njoroge who played three under in the first round, yesterday played one under par 70 to move to four under par 138 and enter the third round tied on fifth position.

In yesterday’s round, he had a false start, dropping a shot on the par four first hole, recovered with a birdie on the par four third hole, but tumbled again on the par three fifth. He sunk another birdie on the par five seventh but had a double bogey on the par four ninth for a first nine score of 38.

In the second nine, Njoroge a former golfer of the year, dropped a shot on the par five hole 10, but recovered with a birdie on the next par three hole 11. He picked more shots on the par three 13^th, par four 15^th and par three 16^th hole for a score of 32.

Pre tournament favourite Nicholas Rokoine played an impressive round of three under par 68, but his first round poor performance of four over meant that he finished the second round on one over par 143.

“I was swinging well today, better than yesterday and the greens were also in a better condition today. I plan to focus on my putting in the last two rounds,” said Rokoine who last week won the Jamii Telcom Masters at the same venue.

The shock of the day was James Lorum’s score of five over par 76, which saw him miss the cut as he finished the second round on three over par 145 to miss the cut by two shots.

He only needed to play level par in the second round after managing two under on day one, but the going looked tough for the Njoro player.

Robinson Owiti registered the worst score in the competition, bowing out on 29 over after the two rounds, one of the worst scores in the history of the competition. cgparkashop cgparkashop