Muthaiga Open: Karanga carries five-shot lead to final round
Michael Karanga tees off from 10th tee during Kenya Amateur Golf Championship, first round f Muthaiga Open at Muthaiga Golf Club on March 24, 2023.
What you need to know:
- The hot charging Karanga as expected, produced his usual fireworks with a brilliant eight under par 63 to close the day on nine under par 133, a whole five shots lead from kenya’s top amateur golfer John Lejirmah of Kenya Railway Golf Club
- Lejirmah was also firing until he dropped a shot at the 12th, having birdied the fourth, ninth, 10th, and later on at the 13th and 18th to close the day four under 67 and a two rounds total of four under par 138
- Sandhu birdied the fourth and 15th but against two bogeys at the third and sixth on the front nine, to level the course for 140 to tie with the leading junior Njoroge Kibugu who was also on fire until he bogeyed the 17th
Kiambu Golf Club’s Michael Karanga finally made his move to the top of the leaderboard, going into Sunday’s final round of the NCBA Bank-sponsored Muthaiga Open golf tournament.
Starting the second round a shot behind overnight leader and home player Jay Sandhu, the hot charging Karanga as expected, produced his usual fireworks with a brilliant eight under par 63 to close the day on nine under par 133, a whole five shots lead from kenya’s top amateur golfer John Lejirmah of Kenya Railway Golf Club.
“Today I managed to put well and minimised the bogeys. During the first round, I made many three putts which denied me a low score,’’ said Karanga who will try and go low in the final round for a double-digit under par score.
Thanks to a string of birdies from the front nine’s second, fourth, fifth, seventh and ninth, Karanga only dropped one shot at the 13th, where he three putted though he had birdied the 11th hole earlier. He then picked up birdies at the 15th, 17th and 18th, to close an impressive round which gave him a great chance of a third back-to-back win in the 2023 Kenya Amateur Golf Championship (KAGC) series.
During the Windsor Classic, Karanga beat Uganda’s Godfrey Nsubuga by two shots.
Meanwhile, Lejirmah was also firing until he dropped a shot at the 12th, having birdied the fourth, ninth, 10th, and later on at the 13th and 18th to close the day four under 67 and a two rounds total of four under par 138.
He will have to produce a very low and clean round if he would like to halt Karanga’s match to a treble. Tying for third place on two under par 140 were the two Muthaiga players Jay Sandhu and Njoroge Kibugu.
Sandhu birdied the fourth and 15th but against two bogeys at the third and sixth on the front nine, to level the course for 140 to tie with the leading junior Njoroge Kibugu who was also on fire until he bogeyed the 17th.
Earlier on, he had eagled the par five-fourth, picked up a birdie at the eighth, then embarked on the back nine with an eagle three at the par five-10th, birdied the 12th, while the bogey at the 17th did not stop him from making a birdie at the 18th as usual.
A big number of players did not however turn up for the second round probably because of the rain.
On Sunday, the amateurs will be joined by some of the local pros who will be playing for cash prizes.
The Leaderboard;
Michael Karanga 70, 63= 133
John Lejirmah 71, 67= 138
Njoroge Kibugu 75, 65= 140
Jay Sandhu 69, 71= 140
Godfrey Nsubuga (Ug) 72, 71= 143
Dennis Maara 70, 73= 143
Sammy Mulama 73, 71=144
Joseph Cwinyaai (Ug) 72, 73- 145.
