Finland's Samooja leads Kenya Open cast

Finland's Kalle Samooja leads the Magical Kenya Open leader board by one stroke as about 77 golfers are expected to tee off for the third and final rounds of the European Tour event.  

Samooja is tied at the helm with Australian Scott Hend who played a round of seven under par on the second round for a total of 11 under par heading into the weekend. 

"I got off to a flying start, opening with three birdies, and then I was struggling a little bit to get quality shots. I don’t know why but I played the sixth hole really badly. It was just a bit of back luck from the rough and then a bit unlucky with the second shot, coming back into the bunker and then I struggled with the short game.

"Then a huge bonus at seven from the front of the green, I don’t know how long it was – 50 metres, maybe more – for an eagle and then a good birdie at the last so I’m really happy with how I finished the round today."

A birdie would have been good enough on seven but eagle Samooja a boost for those last two holes.

"My caddie tried to keep me in the moment and it’s only about that, because the altitude makes it tough to find the right yardages, so it’s just tough to find the right yardages, and it’s just finding the right number and the right club. So you just have to be mentally there all the time and some mental erroes, you make bogey easier. You have to be in the present all the time and he helps me with that," said the Finn. 

Samooja has had three top ten finishes in his last ten European Tour starts. Since graduating from the Challenge Tour ahead of the 2019 season, he has impressed with two runner-up finishes on the European Tour, and will now look to secure a first win at this level.

In stark contrast to Samooja, 47-year-old Hend came into the week having missed seven cuts in his last eight events but a joint best of the week 64 moved him into contention for a fourth European Tour title.

Hend looked like snatching the outright lead when he made his eighth birdie of the day on the 17th, but, like Samooja, he bogeyed the last.