Kalle Samooja of Finland and Austrian Scott Hend are the overnight leaders of the Magical Kenya Open Golf event following brilliant displays at the Karen Country Club course.
Samooja with rounds of 65 and 66 is jointly leading the pack on 12 under par 131. And he was all smiles after the round as he relived his moment of glory: "I got off to a flying start, opening with three birdies, and then I was struggling a little bit to get quality shots.
"I don’t know why but I played the sixth hole really badly. It was just a bit of bad luck from the rough and then a bit unlucky with the second shot, coming back into the bunker and then I struggled with the short game.
"Then a huge bonus at seven from the front of the green, I don’t know how long it was – 50 meters, maybe more – for an eagle and then a good birdie at the last so I’m really happy with how I finished the round today.
"A birdie would have been good enough on seven but eagle gave me a bit of a boost for those last two holes.
"My caddie tried to keep me in the moment and it’s only about that because the altitude makes it tough to find the right yardages. So it’s just tough to find the right yardages, and it’s just finding the right number and the right club.
"So you just have to be mentally there all the time and some mental errors, you make bogey easier. You have to be in the present all the time and he helps me with that."
Hend fired an excellent score of 7 under to move up to the summit. The third round of the event continues on Saturday at the par 71 course.
1. Kalle Samooja (FIN) -11, Scott Hend (AUS) -113, Connor Syme (SCO) -10, Dean Burmester-105, Kurt Kitayama-9, Calum Hill -9, Justin Harding (RSA)-9, Ramsay Richie -9, Raphaël Jacquelin -9.
