Arnhaus and Migliozzi share Kenya Open lead with one round to go

Round Three report

Adri Arnaus and Guido Migliozzi fired the lowest rounds of their European Tour careers to share the lead heading into the final round of the Magical Kenya Open presented by Absa.

Both Spain’s Arnaus and Italy’s Migliozzi took advantage of favourable conditions at Karen Country Club, with the pair – both European Tour rookies – carding rounds of 65 and 64 respectively to share the lead going into the final day in Nairobi.

One shot off the pace is overnight leader Louis de Jager. The South African, a winner on the Sunshine Tour earlier this year, battled his way to a one under par score of 70 and thanks to a closing birdie he is still well-placed to challenge for a maiden European Tour title tomorrow.

Also in the hunt are Kalle Samooja and Gaganjeet Bhullar, who are two behind the leaders. Finland’s Samooja carded his lowest score on the European Tour – a seven under par 64 – to rise up the leaderboard, while India’s Bhullar also rose into contention with his own five under par round of 66.

Still in with a chance of winning back-to-back European Tour titles is South Africa’s Justin Harding. The Qatar Masters champion signed for a two under par round of 69 to leave him four back with 18 holes to play in Kenya.

Player quotes:

Adri Arnaus:

“I would have loved to have been here after my front nine yesterday – that’s what I was playing for. I am happy that I was able to turn it around and it has been a lot of fun so far, and hopefully it will continue to be tomorrow.

“Yesterday over the front nine I didn’t quite feel as good as I was having thoughts about my swing, but after that it all seemed to click and I have been able to implement new swing thoughts over and over since.

“I have been in this position before, and I think that everything in the past is going to help me – all I have to do is try and play good golf again tomorrow.”

Guido Migliozzi:

“I played very solid out there today. My putting was really good, I have been working at that a lot on the greens over the past few days, and I saw a lot of good results from that today.

“It is a very tough course and you have to keep the ball on the fairway. The greens are getting tougher and tougher so you have to keep the ball in play to give yourself a chance here.

“I am confident with my game, and I am hoping that my best game – like I played today – will be enough tomorrow.”

Scores after Round Three:
par 213 (3x71) Players from Kenya unless otherwise stated

199 A Arnaus (Spn) 66 68 65, G Migliozzi (Ita) 67 68 64 
200 L De Jager (SAf) 64 66 70
201 K Samooja (Finland) 70 67 64, G Bhullar (India) 65 70 66 
203 L Johnston (Sco) 67 69 67, J Singh Brar (Eng) 64 70 69, J Harding (SAf) 70 65 68
205 C Sharvin (N Ireland) 69 71 65, G Coetzee (SAf) 72 66 67 
206 C Bezuidenhout (SAf) 67 73 66, R Langasque (Fra) 67 70 69
207 A Karlsson (Swe) 69 70 68, J Geary (NZ) 67 73 67, A Cockerill (Canada) 69 68 70
208 C Blomstrand (Swe) 70 72 66, C S (India) 70 69 69,
209 M Schneider (Ger) 70 69 70, J Veerman (USA) 76 65 68, O Wilson (Eng) 72 70 67, M Hoey (NIre) 66 74 69,
210 T Bjørn (Den) 70 70 70, S Ngige 68 72 70, L Jensen (Den) 71 67 72, G Fernandez-Castaño (Spn) 71 66 73, T Murray (Eng) 72 68 70, H Porteous (RSA) 69 73 68, K Reitan (Norway) 73 68 69, D Cooke (USA) 70 71 69, K Joshi (India) 72 69 69,
211 C Syme (Sco) 71 70 70, B Stow (Eng) 75 67 69, P Figueiredo (Por) 72 68 71, K Koivu (Fin) 70 69 72, H Joannes (Belgium) 70 73 68, S Crocker (USA) 72 71 68, B Ritthammer (Ger) 71 73 67, J Senior (Eng) 69 72 70,
212 A Saddier (Fra) 72 72 68, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 67 75 70, S Manley (Wales) 71 65 76, R Paratore (Ita) 74 70 68, S Soderberg (Swe) 70 72 70, I Cantero Gutierrez (Spn) 71 68 73, M Schmitt (Ger) 69 70 73, S Tiley (Eng) 73 70 69, P Angles (Spn) 73 70 69, N Lemke (Swe) 72 69 71, R Gouveia (Por) 74 66 72, R McGowan (Eng) 74 68 70, M Fenasse (Fra) 75 69 68,
213 B Easton (SAf) 72 70 71, J Catlin (USA) 71 71 71, E Ferguson (Sco) 73 69 71, M Nixon (Eng) 69 71 73, J Lima (Portugal) 75 68 70,
214 N McCarthy (Eng) 73 71 70, C Hill (Sco) 71 71 72, S Forsström (Swe) 74 70 70, M Lafeber (Netherlands) 72 70 72, C Sordet (Fra) 70 73 71, J Madoya (Ken) 71 71 72, J Girrbach (Switz) 72 71 71, R MacIntyre (Sco) 71 73 70,
215 M Simonsen (Denmark) 73 71 71, D Boote (Wales) 69 75 71, N Cullen (Australia) 72 70 73, H Sturehed (Swe) 73 69 73, H Park (SKor) 69 70 76,
216 O Lengden (Swe) 74 70 72, H Leon (Chi) 67 72 77, N Geyger (Chile) 76 67 73, J Winther (Denmark) 80 64 72, B Evans (Eng) 72 72 72,
217 B Virto (Spn) 75 68 74
218 O Farr (Wales) 70 74 74, J Dean (Eng) 75 68 75 
220 M Orrin (Eng) 74 70 76
224 D Van Driel (Netherlands) 71 73 80