John Catlin and Dylan Mostert share the first round lead at the Magical Kenya Open presented by absa after carding seven under par rounds of 64.
Mostert, who won the Nelson Mandela Bay Championship on the Challenge Tour just a fortnight ago, set the early pace at Muthaiga Golf Club as the South African carded eight birdies and one bogey.
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Three-time DP World Tour winner Catlin raced out of the blocks, making the turn at six under par, needing just 29 strokes, with four birdies and an eagle at the par five 18th, his ninth hole. The American finished his round with eight pars and a fifth birdie of the day at the par four sixth to join Mostert at the top of the leaderboard.
One stroke behind on six under par are Wil Besseling, of the Netherlands, and Frenchman Pierre Pineau on six under par. Besseling carded eight birdies in his round of 65, with Pineau carding four birdies and an eagle.
Catlin said: “I’m very pleased. I feel like I left some out there on my back nine. I got off to a really hot start and just made some bad swings, I didn’t take advantage of the par fives and hit a really bad lay-up on seven. It was a god round of golf, I left a few out there for sure.
“A nice way to build some momentum. I feel like I’ve been close, just a poor swing here, misjudgement here, that’s all it takes out here. It’s very fine margins. I was able to take two weeks off, put some work in on my game and it feels like it’s starting to pay off, so I’m really excited about that.”
Said Mostert: “I’m very pleased. I played very solid today, kept the momentum going throughout the round. Made some good putts, hit a lot of greens. The greens are small, so if you’re hitting greens you’re going to have a lot of chances. I manage to make a few putts, I’ll just keep doing the same thing. I’m excited for tomorrow.
“The greens are quite soft in the morning, they definitely firm up throughout the day. As soon as the wind picks up and the heat gets up they firm up and get faster, much tougher. It’s definitely an advantage to play early in the morning.”
Besseling said: “It was an early start, but the weather’s great. The course is tricky, but I putted really well today. Got my round going starting and finishing with three birdies after a mistake on 15. I’m happy with six under.
“16 is not an easy par three, 17, 18 you have chances. You have chances all over the course but it’s tricky, the wind is coming up now. Six under is a good score. Eight birdies today, which is not average. Happy with today, looking forward to tomorrow.”
