The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Ramsay and Syme in hunt at Kenya Open
S thecottish pair Richie Ramsay and Connor Syme are only one shot off the lead at halfway stage of the Magical Kenya Open.
Australian veteran Scott Hend, 47, returned to form to share the halfway lead at Karen County Club in Nairobi.
He shot a joint best-ofthe-week 64 to join Finland’s Kalle Samooja on 11 under.
Drumoig’s Syme shot a 67 to share third with Ramsay and South African Dean Burmester on 10 under.
Aberdonian Ramsay is well-placed for a weekend charge as he chases a fourth European Tour title.
He followed up an opening round of 67 with a six-under 65 which included an eagle two at the 10th.
Perthshire’s Callum Hill is only one shot back on nine under after a second round 68.
A three-time European Tour winner, Hend came into the week having missed seven cuts in his last eight events but looked like snatching the outright lead when he made his eighth birdie of the day on the 17 th, only to then bogey the last.
In contrast Samooja has had three top-10 finishes in his last 10 European Tour starts and fired a five-under 66, which included an eagle at the par-four seventh.
“I got off to a flying start,
opening with three birdies, and then I was struggling a little bit to get quality shots,” said Samooja.
“Then a huge bonus at seven from the front of the green, I don’t know how long it was – 50 metres, 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. My caddie tried to keep me in the moment because the altitude makes it tough to find the right yardages.
“It’s just finding the right number and the right club.
“You just have to be mentally there all the time as it is easy to make a bogey.”
Grant Forrest made the cut after finishing three under but David Law and David Drysdale, who were both level par, missed out.
Liam Johnston and Ewen Ferguson will also look to do better at next week’s event at the same course after missing the weekend having finished two over.
Meanwhile, the European Tour has postponed next month’s Portugal Masters due to travel issues caused by the pandemic.
The event was due to run from April 29 in Vilamoura but will now be replaced on the schedule by the Tenerife Open, which is being pushed back two weeks.
European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said: “Unfortunately, it simply was not possible to stage the event next month, so we are now looking into the possibility of rescheduling it at some point later this year.”
Leading scores (Gbr & Irl unless stated, Par 71):
131 Scott Hend (Aus) 67 64, Kalle Samooja (Fin) 65 66
132 Richie Ramsay 67 65, Dean Burmester (Rsa) 68 64, Connor Syme 65 67
133 Justin Harding (Rsa) 66 67, Kurt Kitayama (USA) 67 66, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 65 68, Calum Hill 65 68,
135 Matthew Southgate 66 69, Garrick Higgo (Rsa) 67 68
136 Wilco Nienaber (Rsa) 67 69, Sam Horsfield 65 71, Guido Migliozzi (Ita) 71 65, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 64 72, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 67 69, Soeren Kjeldsen (Den) 67 69, Victor Dubuisson (Fra) 68 68, Jamie Donaldson 69 67, Jack Senior 68 68, Dale Whitnell 66 70, Jeanbaptiste Gonnet (Fra) 68 68, Bernd Ritthammer (Ger) 65 71
137 Pep Angles (Spa) 70 67, Aaron Rai 70 67, Joachim B. Hansen (Den) 68 69, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 70 67, Romain Langasque (Fra) 67 70, Matthias Schwab (Aut) 71 66, Oliver Wilson 70 67, Gavin Green (Mal) 68 69, Francesco Laporta (Ita) 70 67, Ricardo Santos (Por) 71 66, Sebastian Garcia (Spa) 67 70, Johannes Veerman (USA) 68 69, Lars van Meijel (Ned) 68 69
139 Grant Forrest 73 66
Other scores included:
142 David Law 72 70, David Drysdale 72 70
144 Ewen Ferguson 71 73, Liam Johnston 73 71.