BY SAMSON ATEKA
Ugandan pro Ronald Rugumayo is still in control of Karen Country Club Safari Tour leg after taking a two-stroke lead ahead of Kenyan Dismas Indiza.
Rugumayo, one of the players fighting for the two regional slots in the ‘Road To Kenya Open’, fired a round of two-under-par 70 to lead the pack in the closing leg of the Safari Tour.
Indiza played a round of 69 on the penultimate round to place second on a gross total of 13-under par 203.
Rugumayo is on 15-under par 201 ahead of Wednesday’s closing round. The top eight Kenyan pros on the order of merit after the final round will earn slots to the Kenya Open Golf Championships to be played at Muthaiga Golf Club later in the month.
The top two regional pros will also qualify for Kenya’s premier golf extravaganza which is part of the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour).
Rugumayo has displayed awesome golfing skills in Karen — which has hosted previous Kenya Open events, including the 2019 edition which was the first European Tour edition in the country.
The sublime Ugandan flabbergasted all and sundry on Monday when he sunk nine-under to take the lead.
The round saw him score nine birdies (3, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17 and 18) and nine pars. He then extended his lead to -13 (131 gross).
He goes into the last round with minimal pressure since his two-shot lead puts him in a vantage position to win the season-ender in Karen.
“The essence is to keep my cool and get the fairways more. My swing has worked out miracles. The idea is to avoid errors,” said Rugumayo.
Celestine Nsanzuwera of Rwandan and Visitor Mapwanya of Zimbabwe are the other regional players in the top ten tied for eighth on three-over par 216 gross.
Safari Tour - Karen Country Club Round 3 Results
1 Rugumayo, Ronald (UG) 201 (-15)
2 Indiza, Dismas 203 (-13)
3 Kibugu, Mutahi 209 (-5)
4 Snow, Greg 211 (-3)
5 Mediratta, Mohit 212 (-2)
T6 Njoroge, Samuel 215 (+1)
T6 Kisia, Mike 215 (+1)
T8 Celestine, Nsanzuwera (Rwa) 216 (+2)
T8 Mapwanya, Visitor (Zim) 216 (+3)
10 Omuli, Tony 217 (+3)
