CLOSING IN: Thika's Simon Ngige follows his shot during yesterday's second round of the KCB East Africa Golf Tour at the Royal Nairobi Golf Club. Photo by JAMES WAINDI

By JAMES WAINDI

Thika’s Simon Ngige maintained his day one lead at the ongoing KCB East Africa Golf Tour at the par 72 Royal Nairobi Golf Club when he short five under on the second day to move to 12 under par 132 and carry a nine shot advantage over his closest challenger.

Ngige who has had a false start to the series this year that saw him finish second in the first leg in Thika, before finishing fourth in the second leg in Muthaiga and then finishing sixth in the last event held in Nyanza said he was focused on winning his first competition of the year and noted that he would be cautious in the last two remaining rounds.

“I will cautious in the remaining rounds, but I will not panic because I have previously taken the lead from the first day to the last, so it is not new to me and I cannot afford to be aggressive in the remaining 36 holes,” said Ngige.

He added: “Today my driver was poor, but my putting remains good, in fact I had 29 putts today.”

During yesterday’s round, Ngige started with a birdie on the par five second hole, then picked four straight birdies on the par four fifth hole, par three sixth, par five seventh and par three eighth, before dropping a shot on the par four ninth hole for a first nine score of 32.

In the second nine, he started on a wrong foot with a bogey on the par four 10^th hole, but recovered with birdies on the par five 14^th and 15^th holes, the same holes he sunk eagles during the first round when he finished on seven under. He scored 35 in the second nine.

Mumias pro Dismas Indiza who won the last event at Nyanza Club last month, was placed second going into the third round on three under par 141. He played a round of level par 72 yesterday where he picked birdies on the par five second hole and par four third hole before dropping a shot on the par three hole six for a first nine score of 35.

In the second nine, he started with a bogey on the par four hole 10 and par three hole 13, but sunk a birdie on the par three hole 17 for a score of 37.

Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) chairman Riz Charania who finished the first round second, dropped to third tied position with Royals Anil Shah on two under par 142, while Ken Abuto was fifth on level par 144. nike air max 97 nike air max 97

WINNER'S SWING: Thika's Simon Ngige follows his swing at the Royal Nairoi Golf Club yesterday. He took an over night lead on seven under at the fourth leg of the KCB East Africa Golf Series.

By JAMES WAINDI

Thika’s professional Simon Ngige bounced back from poor show in the last KCB East Africa event held at the Nyanza Golf Club where he finished a disappointing sixth, as he took an early lead at the fourth leg currently going on at the par 72 Royal Nairobi Golf Club.

The player who won the order of merit in the same series in 2010 played an impressive round of seven under par 65 to carry an over-night lead of three shots as his closest challenger, new Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) chairman Riz Charania settled for the second position on four under par 68.

Nyanza winner Dismas Indiza, Vet Lab’s Ali Kimani and Nyali’s Kopan Timbe finished the first round joint third on three under par 69.

“I played well today because I have been practicing on this course for the last one week. The course today was playing long, but I managed to hit 80 percent of my ball on the fairway and I was also putting well. I managed 28 putts today,” said Ngige.

The first round winner started with back-to-back birdies on the par five hole two and par four hole three, picked other shots on the par four hole five, par five hole seven and par three hole eight for a first nine score of 33.

In the second nine, Ngige sunk a birdie on the par three hole 13, posted back-to-back eagles on the par five 14^th and par five 15^th, before dropping a shot on the par four 16 for a score of 32.

Charania on the other hand started with a birdie on the par three sixth hole, sunk an eagle on the par five seventh hole, but dropped two shots on the par three eighth hole and par four ninth for a score of 35.

In the second hole, the Windsor player picked a shot on the par four tenth hole, dropped a single shot on the par four 12^th hole, before recovering with birdies on the par three 13^th, par five 14^th and par five 15^th for a score of 33. nike air max 1 nike air max 1