Safari Tour: Kibugu, Matilo joint top after second round
Njoroge Kibugu follows the progress of his tee shot from 10th tee during Round Two of the fifth leg of the Safari Tour on January 29, 2024 at Muthaiga Golf Club.
What you need to know:
- Tuesday’s third round gets underway at 7.30am with the leading group of Njoroge Kibugu, Frank Matilo, and Samuel Njoroge teeing off at 8.30am.
- The winner of the event will take home Sh150,000 plus some points towards the “Road to Magical Kenya Open’’.
Home pro Njoroge Kibugu moved from seventh place in the opening round to share the lead with clubmate Frank Matilo as the 2023/2024 Safari Tour fifth leg entered its halfway stage at the par 71 Muthaiga Golf Club course on Monday.
It was a good recovery for Kibugu who dropped a shot at the first hole, though managed to recover it with a birdie four at the par five-fourth.
He picked his second birdie of the day at the seventh hole only to bogey the par four-ninth carry a level par 36 to the back nine where he birdied the 10th, then parred all the way to the 18th where he made a four, for the day’s two under par 69 and a two rounds total of three under par 139.
“The course is pretty tough, particularly the rough. You just need to go off the fairway by foot and you are done," said Kibugu, who along with Matilo will now lead the field of 20 players who made the second round cut to Tuesday's third round of the ABSA Bank-sponsored event.
However, Matilo looked set for the leaderboard on his own after picking up three birdies in the bogey-free front nine until he crossed to the back nine where picked two successive bogeys at the 11th and 12th, having birdied the 10th.
And just before his home green birdie, Matilo dropped a shot at the downhill 17th to also finish on two under par 69 for the day.
Meanwhile, Railway’s Samuel Njoroge and Mutahi Kibugu tied for the third place on two under par 140 after posting one under par 70 and level par 72 respectively.
On the other hand, Erick Ooko and Jastus Madoya dropped to fifth place where they were joined by Nelson Mudanyi, who fired one under par 70 for 141.
Madoya, who bogeyed three holes, returned two over par 73, the same as Ooko. They are just a shot adrift from Dismas Indiza, Namibia’s Paulino Kasoma, and Greg Snow.
Tuesday’s third round gets underway at 7.30am with the leading group of Njoroge Kibugu, Frank Matilo, and Samuel Njoroge teeing off at 8.30am.
The winner of the event will take home Sh150,000 plus some points towards the “Road to Magical Kenya Open’’.
