Frenchman Benjamin takes first round lead at Kenya Open

A last hole birdie saw France’s Herbert Benjamin grab a one shot lead on seven under par as the 2021 Magical Kenya Open presented by Johnnie Walker got underway at the par 71 Karen Country Club course on Thursday.

Benjamin who posted his score late in the evening, got off with the only bogey of the day at the first hole. He then birdied the second, fifth, sixth, and seventh holes, eagled the 12th to push himself to the top with the early leaders. He however made the last hole birdie which changed the leadership for the day.

The race to the top of the leaderboard was however very tight with six players having earlier tied at the top on six under par 65 midway through the opening round where a field of 156 players including six amateurs are battling it out for the cash and points for the pros and a prestigious trophy for the amateurs.

And it was Poland’s Adrian Meronk who set the pace with a string of birdies and an eagle. He dropped a shot at the third, but this did not seems to have bothered him that much as he picked up two birdies at the six and seventh, to eventually embark on the back nine with a fairly score.

He quickly picked one birdie at the 10th, but it was the eagle at the 11th which appeared to have assured him of a good finish particularly after making birdies at the 14th and 17th to close the day’s work. Then one after the other saw the arrival of England’s Sam Horsfield, Raphael Jacquelin of France, and Germany’s Bernd Rithammer all on six under par.

The German Rithammer who had seven birdies and a bogey at the home green said: “It was a solid round. I just stuck to the plan. I was quite good off the tee, then I gave myself good chances for birdie, which I converted. I was pleased with the round."

"To be honest, I played pretty well (in Qatar). It was really hard on the second day. I should have scored lower on the first day, but my game was quite good. I just needed to improve my short game a little, that was the key, and today my short game was good. I was happy with my wedges. 

"Last year was a good start (to my European Tour career), I gained a lot of experience. It was a free year for me because there wasn’t the pressure of losing my card. I’m more comfortable on Tour this year, I just want to play my game and go as low as possible every week," said Poland's Meronk.

On the other hand, France’s Jacquelin whose card contained seven birdies and a bogey at the eighth, said the putter was real hot. “I think the putter was really hot today, that was the key of my round. I’m really happy with the way I putted, I’ve been working on it quite a lot and it’s good when you feel it coming back. It paid off today. I managed to save some good pars. It’s a tricky course, so you have to be careful off the tee. It’s fun, it’s an old-style course, and it’s good for me, actually.
The greens are better on the back nine but they are rolling pretty good, especially this morning. Tomorrow afternoon they might not be so easy. Overall the course is great, it’s in good shape, so I can’t complain.

(Qatar) was my first cut in a long time. I haven’t played that great over the last two years. It’s good to be back, I feel a bit of confidence. If you putt, it’s a lot easier – that's what I did last week and today. Let’s keep that going and have some fun – fun is the key, I haven’t had a lot of that over the last two years, so we’ll try and get that first.’’

Jacquelin dropped a shot at the eighth, after a birdie at the sixth, had an excellent back nine whose success started with a birdie at the 11th, then three back-to-back at the 14th to 16th, a closing one at the 18th.

The Englishman Sam Horsfield, who bogeyed two holes both at the back nine having made three birdies and an eagle at the front nine, said: “I tore a disc in my back in Cyprus at the end of last year. Then I was just getting treatment and stuff like that and I didn’t feel like I was ready for the Middle East, I picked up a club around the time of the Saudi event. It’s nice to be back out here with the boys competing.

“It took me a while to get into the round even though I was three under through the first four. I still felt a little different to playing golf at home. The back nine was a little questionable but then I hit a good shot on the front nine and it sort of got me into the flow of the round again.

“I had a good group today and it was a lot of fun and it’s great to be back competing. It was 309 to the pin at the seventh, into and out the right, held a driver – hit it a little bit hilly – so it came up to the front edge and a pretty straight-forward chip, 56 degree wedge, and it went straight into the cup, dead in the middle.

“I only hit two drivers today, on 17 and seven. The ball goes so far here, we’re at 6,000 feet altitude and it’s not a long golf course so there’s not a lot of need to play driver, so just keep it out of trouble, keep it in the short stuff and try and make birdies from there.”

And finally came Finland’s Kaale Samooja, Scotland’s Calum Hill all on six under,  and the eventual leader Frenchman Herbert Benjamin who went straight to top of the good list of birdies for the day. Chasing the leaders was another group of six on five under par 66.

It was a good start for Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi, a member of the Safari Tour who played a clean four under par 67 to tie for 14th place with among others South Africa’s Justin Walters. It was not however a good start for the locals, particularly the big names such as Dismas Indiza, Greg Snow and David Wakhu.

All the same, junior amateur Taimur Malik from Muthaiga Golf Club and Golf Park-based Eric Ooko shot two under 69 each with Tony Omuli who came in as an invitee, finishing a shot further behind on one under par 70.

The youngster Malik birdied the sixth, eighth and the 10th and 12th but he had dropped two shots earlier on at the first and fourth holes. Ooko on the other hand, bogeyed four holes, two on each side, though a two at the par four-ninth and birdies at the 10th, 11th, and 16th saw him finish with the red numbers.

The leaderboard;

Herbert Benjamin (Fra) 64

Adrian Meronk (Pol) 65

Sam Horsfield (Eng) 65

Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 65

Bernd Rithammer(Ger) 65

Colum Hill (Sco) 65

Kalle Samooja(Fin) 65

Connor Syme(Sco) 65

Julian Suri(USA) 66

Justin Harding (SA) 66

Mathew Southgate (Eng) 66

Whitnell Dale (Eng) 66

Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 66.