Syme Matches His Magical Kenyan Low As Forrest Joins Tartan Colleague Among Top-10

8 months ago by Comments Off on Syme Matches His Magical Kenyan Low As Forrest Joins Tartan Colleague Among Top-10

The Scots duo of Connor Syme and Grant Forrest will be looking for more magic heading to the weekend rounds of the Magical Kenya Open in Nairobi.

Syme matced his Kenyan best in producing a lowest second round of 64 that begun with a bogey but then included nine birdies for a seven-under tally and a share of fifth place at seven-under while Forrest produced a second straight 68 to be one back of his Tartan colleague at six-under in a share of 10th.

England’s John Parry battled the already hot but tricky windier afternoon conditions birdieing his closing two holes in a 65 to move one clear of the field at 14-under par on the tight, three-lined Muthaiga course.

Parry, 38, ended a 14-year wait last December to capture a second Tour title and now just five events later he’s on target to win a third.

Syme, and seeking a maiden Tour success, matched his best Kenyan score in now 24 rounds around the 5,500-foot high Nairobi course when signed for a last day 64 to finish third in the 2021 event.

Syme said: “This is a course where you just have to hit it straight and get your wedges dialled in because distance control is so important, especially up here with the heat and the altitude.

“Then, if you add a bit of wind, some of the shorter irons just go miles. If you hit it hard up in the air, you are getting a lot more than the 10-12 per cent that you play for. Especially coming from home last week, when it didn’t get above five degrees (laughing), so it is a big adjustment yardage-wise.

“Sometimes you could hit a full 9-iron pretty hard and high and that could go further than a flighted-down 8-iron. You have to pick your shot and, even then, it’s still a bit of a lottery.”

Forrest, and contesting the event for a fifth occasion, has now produced 10 sub-70s in his 14 rounds of the tight tree-lined course with his second day a mix of four birdies but also a 10th hole double where he had to take a penalty drop from bushes.

He said: “I played really nicely the front nine and had a good chance to go five-under with a birdie on nine but then made a mess on 10.

“It was then a bit of comedy errors after that with seven pars but a nice birdie to finish.

“The course is firming-up a bit and while I wasn’t here last year, and while I’ve found the course not so tricky as a few years ago but when the wind starts gusting it can be a bit of a lottery sometimes as the ball just goes so far.

“So, overall, pretty happy with how it’s going so far”.

Kingsbarns Links attached Daniel Young made the even par cut on the mark with scores of 72 and 70.

Missing out was Callum Hill posting rounds of 72 and 73 for three-over and also David Law with scores of 74 and 72 at four-over.

Meantime …

Scot-born Cameron Mukherjee, and bizarrely playing not under the Scotland Saltire but under the UK flag, was handed a golf lesson losing 5 & 3 to local hero Charl Barnard in the 36-hole final of the South African Amateur championship at the Humewood club.

Mukherjee, 16, is a member at both the Craigielaw and Gullane clubs and while his father was acting as caddy he was no match for Barnard crashing from being 1-up with an opening hole par but struggling to be 4-down after 18 before losing to a Barnard birdie at the 33rd hole.

 

 

 

 



Comments are closed.