Louis de Jager takes a four-shot lead into the weekend of the Magical Kenya Open at Karen Country Club in Nairobi.
A second-round, five-under-par 66 moved him to 12-under, clear of joint first-round leader Jack Singh Brar and Spain’s Adri Arnaus.
De Jager had seven birdies and could have been further ahead if not for two dropped shots in four holes from the first. The 31-year-old has five wins on the Sunshine Tour, including this year’s Eye of Africa PGA Championship.
‘I told the guys when we played a practice round on Tuesday, after the desert, you could feel you were in Africa, back in our continent,’ De Jager said. ‘You get used to the feel of the Kikuyu grass, and the ball travels the same as back home in Pretoria, distance-wise, so it really feels like we’re back home.
‘My game plan over the weekend is not to be too aggressive. The most important thing is hitting the fairways and hitting the greens, because the greens are quite small. If you hit the greens you’ve always got a good birdie chance here.’
Singh Brar would have been closer to the top of the leaderboard if he were able to keep his game just a little bit tighter.
‘It was a bit of an up and down round today, a bit of a mixed bag,’ the Englishman said. ‘I had a couple of good opportunities early doors and then missed a good birdie chance on nine which stunted my movement a little bit, then I was a bit scruffy on the back nine.’
Last week’s Qatar Masters winner, Justin Harding, is just five shots off the lead in a tie for fourth place at seven-under. ‘I was a little bit more aggressive today as you have to get it in close here, as it can be awkward in places,’ the South African said.
‘You have to pick and choose your moments here and I did that well out there. I have been trying to make less mistakes recently, and I went over the green just once today – that wasn’t the case yesterday – so I am really happy with my performance.’
Harding is averaging 66.5 on Sundays during this season’s European Tour, so he might be the man to beat over the weekend.
Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
