Lethal Snow keeps Tour lead

Greg Snow of Kenya focusing on his putt during Kenya Open Golf Championship at Muthaiga Golf Club on Thursday 23/03/17.PHOTO:BONIFACE OKENDO

Greg Snow shot a brilliant round on Day Three of the Muthaiga leg of the Safari Tour golf series to return a 7-under par 64 score and take his total for the tournament to 12-under par 201.

Snow, who after the round inched closer to winning his third Safari Tour title, is now a distant 11 shots ahead of Windsor’s David Opati, who is in second spot.

Snow started the round with consecutive birdies at the Par-4 first and the Par-3 second before hitting another birdie at the Par-3 fifth. He dropped a shot at the Par-4 eighth before making amends with a birdie at the Par-4 ninth for a first nine total of 33.

On the back nine, he played bogey-free, starting off with a birdie at the Par-5 10th which was followed by consecutive birdies at the Par-4 12th and the Par-3 13th.

He holed his last birdie of the day at the Par-4 17th for a back nine total of 31; further cementing his excellent form at the tournament where he has played under par throughout the leg.

David Opati, who yesterday shot an impressive 5-under par round, had a difficult day that saw him fail to record a single birdie on the first nine and, instead, saw him drop three shots at the Par-4 first, the Par-3 fifth and the Par-4 eighth for a first nine total 38.

On the back nine, he recorded a lone bogey at the Par-4 14th, but birdies at the Par-5 10th and the Par-4 15th were enough for a back nine total of 34; which took his total for the day to 1-over 72 for a tournament total of at 1-under par 212.

Meanwhile, Thika Sports Club’s Simon Ngige maintained his decent form on day three of the Safari Tour to post a 1-over par 72 score; taking his total for the tournament to 2-over par 215 and cementing third spot on the leader board with one round left to play.

He played a blemish-free first nine, holding par on the first eight holes before hitting his first birdie of the day at the Par-4 ninth for a first nine total of 35.

On the back nine, he started off with a birdie at the 10th before bogeying the 12th and the 14th.

Windsor’s Rizwan Chandaria maintained his goodstreak to record a 1-over par 72 score for a total of 3-over par 216 to see him claim fourth spot going into the final round of the Muthaiga leg. Meanwhile, long-hitting Dismas Indiza and David Odhiambo are tied for fifth at 4-over Par 217.

Akshay Chandaria, one of the four amateurs who made the cut yesterday, is currently tied in eight alongside John Kagiri and is the best-placed amateur after three rounds.

Action resumes today for the fourth and final round of the Muthaiga Leg of the Safari Tour Golf series where the overall winner will walk away with Sh450,000.