Erick Ooko on course at Kenya Open series

Erick Ooko of Royal Nairobi Golf Club follows the progress of his tee shot during the fourth leg of the Kenya Open Qualifiers on February 19, 2018 at Royal Nairobi Golf Club. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |

What you need to know:

  • Home professional Erick Ooko finally moved to the top of the leader board on his own, after his second one under par 71 in Tuesday’s second round of the fourth Kenya Open qualifier at Royal Nairobi Golf Club.
  • Ooko, who shared the first round lead with Windsor’s David Opati on Monday, picked up birdies on the first, third, seventh, and 14th and 15th, against three bogeys at the fifth, ninth and 10th for two under par 142, to grab a one shot lead from Nelson Mudanyi.
  • The Muthaiga-based Mudanyi, who had started with a level par 72 in day one, also shot one under par 71 for 143.

Home professional Erick Ooko finally moved to the top of the leader board on his own, after his second one under par 71 in Tuesday’s second round of the fourth Kenya Open qualifier at Royal Nairobi Golf Club.

Ooko, who shared the first round lead with Windsor’s David Opati on Monday, picked up birdies on the first, third, seventh, and 14th and 15th, against three bogeys at the fifth, ninth and 10th for two under par 142, to grab a one shot lead from Nelson Mudanyi.

The Muthaiga-based Mudanyi, who had started with a level par 72 in day one, also shot one under par 71 for 143.

Like Ooko, Mudanyi also started with a birdie at the first hole, added one more at the par five-seventh, having bogeyed the sixth earlier. Carrying one under to the back nine, Mudanyi however dropped a shot at the 10th and at the 13th, but birdied both the two par -five-14th and 15th at the back nine.

Meanwhile, Opati dropped to joint third with Muthaiga’s Nicholas Rokoine, after a two over par 74 for 145. It was a dry day for the Windsor assistant pro, who dropped two shots at the back nine’s 12th and 18th, missing narrow birdie-putts to settle for pars in the rest of the holes.

Rokoine was on the other hand, firing birdie after birdie, though a bogey at the 12th and a double at the par three-13th left him with only one under par 71 for a two rounds total of 145.

Also signing for a 71 in the second round was Nyali Golf and Country Club’s Njuguna Ngugi, who birdied the second, eighth, 11th and 14th, but with bogeys coming on the fourth, ninth and at the 10th to close the day on his own in fifth place.

With only two legs remaining after this week, the competition is getting more stiff with every player trying to post as many under par as possible.

The professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) has organized the series to fill 18 slots in addition to four exempted slots, for this year’s Open set for March 22 to 25 at the par 71 Muthaiga Golf Club course.

The leader board after round two;

142 Erick Ooko 71, 71

143 Nelson Mudanyi 72, 71

145 Nicholas Rokoine 74, 71

145 David Opati 71, 74

146 Njuguna Ngugi 75, 71

147 Mathew Omondi 74, 73

147 Charan Thethy 73, 74

147 Ken Bollo 72, 75

147 Anil Shah 72, 75

148 David Wakhu 76, 72

148 Dennis Saikwa(a) 76, 72

148 Ganeev Giddie 74, 74.