The Scotland trio of Richie Ramsay, Connor Syme and Calum Hill combined to produce Tartan magic on day two of the Magical Kenya Open in Nairobi.
Ramsay sensationally kick-started his round chipping-in for an eagle ‘2’ on route to a 65 and tied with Drumoig’s Connor Syme, who birdied three of his closing four holes in a 67, along with South African Dean Burmester (64) in a three-way tie for third place on 10-under par.
Hill with a 68 is just a shot further back and among four players on nine-under par on the Karen Country Club course.
Big-hitting Aussie Scott Hend and Finland’s Kalle Samooja head the field at 11-under par with Hend grabbing eight birdies in a seven-under 64 and Samooja posting an eagle and six birdies in a five-under par 65.
Richie Ramsay just one shot off the lead day two at the Kenya Open (Image – European Tour)
Ramsay’s on a first visit to Kenya but he’s no stranger to success on the African continent winning the first of his three European Tour titles with victory in the 2009 South African Open.
And Ramsay, with five-year-old daughter Olivia cheering him back home in Edinburgh, could not have wished for a better start on day two in the Kenyan capital having not only eagled his first but birdied his next two ahead of a ninth hole bogey and three inward half birdies.
He said: “To start with an eagle ‘2’ is a great feel-good factor. I hit a lovely sand-wedge and it spun back into the hole. Then to birdie the next two, you feel like there’s a low one coming.
“I reeled off a few nice pars and continued it on the front nine. The best thing about it was my daughter wanted an eagle or a hole-in-one, so I know when she’ll see the scorecard and sees the eagle she’ll be delighted.”
Ramsay’s daughter had not been born in capturing his last Tour title – the 2015 Hassan II Trophy.
He said: “I need to believe a bit more. Belief is something I’ve needed to work on. Ultimately it comes down to hitting my short irons closer and taking advantage by holing putts.”
Syme capped his round with three birdies over his closing four holes, including a near impossible birdie from a greenside bunker at his last hole.
Connor Syme on his way to a round of 67 for a share of third place on day two of the Magical Kenya Open
He said: “I had a difficult lie in the bunker there on my 18th and couldn’t get myself set as the ball was well up the right side.
“I thought I was going to have to put one foot out and one foot in but as I got over it, I felt I could hit it. My big problem was keeping my balance because I felt my left foot could have easily slipped.
“I was just happy to make decent contact and to see it roll up nicely there was a little bonus.
“Overall, the round wasn’t quite as good as yesterday to be honest, the wind it definitely up a little bit more. It could have probably been a bit better to start with but I made a sloppy bogey on the par three.
“But to be honest, chatting with my caddie, it’s so easy to do that out here as we are at such a high altitude. We’ve been good with our distances but you can off and sometimes bogey isn’t a disaster but I’m very happy, it was a strong finish, so I was happy to post 67”.
And while Nairobi lies at near 5,900 feet above sea level, Syme likens the course to one very close to sea level and just a 20-minute drive from his Drumoig residence.
He said: This Karen course reminds me so much like Ladybank and also Downfield but obviously minus the sun (smiling)”.
Hill birdied four of his outward but then dropped shots at his 10th and 12th holes but then like Syme, he also birdied the last.
Craigielaw’s Grant Forrest signed for a 66 to be at three-under par but missing the cut and spoiling his 46th birthday was David Drysdale (70) who along with David Law (70) were each at level par.
Also missing the cut and at one-over was Liam Johnston (71) and Ewen Ferguson
