Soderberg takes lead as Kenya Open heads into final round

Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg leads the field of 73 players into Sunday’s final round of the Barclays Kenya Open at the par 71 Muthaiga Golf Club course.

Chasing England’s Maurice Bembridge’s record of winning the open both at Karen and Muthaiga, Soderberg fired five under par 65 in the third round, to grab a two shots lead from the Germany duo of Philip Mejow and round two leader Max Schmitt.

A winner of the Open in 2016 at Karen, Soderberg, followed by a big crowd of local golf enthusiasts, picked up two birdies at the tough playing first nine’s fourth and ninth.

Soderberg started the back nine with an eagle three, picked two back to back birdies at the 12th and 13th. He, however, dropped a shot at the long par three-16th, though all ended well with two successive pars for 12 under par 201, to finish ahead of Mejow and Schmitt who tied for second place on 10 under par 203.

“I am very pleased with how today went," said Soderberg. “It was a really solid round overall and I had a very good stretch in the middle which came from an eagle. I didn’t really think about him (Max Schmitt) as I tried to build my score from yesterday."

He said he did not start well on Thursday. “Kenya has always treated me well, I don’t know what it is here, but I always get some good feelings each time I come back," added Soderberg.

'FANTASTIC DAY'

Of the two Germans, Mejow had a fantastic day, as he posted a bogey-free seven under par 64 that included birdies on sixth, eighth, ninth, 10th, 13th, 17th and 18th.

Schmitt was however lucky to maintain his 10 under par. He picked up five bogeys which cancelled the five birdies he had rolled in over the fourth, 10th, 11th, 17th and 18th.

It is however not over yet for the youthful Schmitt who can still pick up the top prize of 80,000 Euro (about Sh10 million) if he is able to get over his third round bogeys.

'BAD DAY' FOR LOCALS

Those who finished on eight under par total for three rounds include Day One leader Max Orrin from England who shot two under par 69 for 205 to tie with Simon Forsstrom of Sweden, Chile’s Nico Geyger and Italian Lorenzo Gagli.

It was equally a disappointing day for the two surviving local players Mohit Mediratta and Riz Charania. Mediratta, who carried three under par to the third round, hit a triple bogey at the long par five-seventh, after three successive bogeys at the third, fourth and fifth and a late one at the eighth.

The back nine was not good either, as Mediratta dropped shots at the 12th, 15th and the 18th having recovered two shots at the 16th and 17th for the day’s eight over par 79 which threw him into 70th position with five over par 218.

Charania, who started at level par, carded three over par 74 for 216. Charania, who starts Sunday’s final round in 68th place, said the first round messed his game. “I made a number of bad shots at the front nine, and was not able to recover. I also missed many birdie chances, but I will try and improve tomorrow as I would like to finish with under par scores," said Charania, who also made the cut in 2017.

The leaderboard:

201 Sebastian Soderberg (Sweden) 70, 65, 66

203 Max Schmitt (Germany) 67, 65, 71

203 Philip Mejow (Germany) 67, 72, 64

205 Max Orrin (England) 65, 71, 69
205 Simon Forsstrom (Sweden) 66, 69, 70
205 Nico Geyger (Chile) 69, 68, 68
205 Lorenzo Gagli (Italy) 68, 68, 69
206 Oliver Bakker (SA) 74, 69, 63

206 Oscar Lengden (Sweden) 71, 72, 63

206 Jens Fahrbring (Sweden) 72, 70, 64

206 Kelle Samooja (Finland) 71, 70, 65

206 Gary Harley (Ireland) 71, 69, 66

206 Ben Evans (England) 69, 67, 70

206 Johannessen Kristian-Krogh (Norway) 67, 67, 72.