DP World Tour : Magical Kenya Open. .Leaderboard Tee Times
Darius van Driel continued his fine start to the 2024 Race to Dubai with an opening -5 66 to take the first-round lead at the Magical Kenya Open presented by absa.
The Dutchman has two top tens so far this campaign and while he missed his first cut of the season last time out, a return to Muthaiga Golf Club - where he has two previous top-12 finishes, including last year - saw him regain his recent form.
An eagle, five birdies and two bogeys moved him to -5 66, a shot clear of countryman Daan Huizing, Frenchman Frederic Lacroix, Finn Tapio Pulkkanen, German Yannick Schuetz, Scot Connor Syme and South African Ryan van Velzen all with -4 67
Van Driel's golfing journey has been a remarkable one, with him giving up the game for a number of years after breaking his hand in a banana boat accident, but he decided to turn professional after finishing second at the 2015 Alps Tour Q-School.
He won the Order of Merit in his maiden season and then graduated from the European Challenge Tour in 2019, the same season he lost in the final of the Belgian Knockout to Guido Migliozzi on the DP World Tour.
"You just have to be patient. You can hit a good drive and still end up in the rough and have no shot, like Marcus (Kinhult) had on ten, or you can hit it left side of the fairway and it kicks back. You’ve got to be very patient, especially with the wind, you just grind it out."
Huizing then made it a leading trio from the morning starters, turning in 31 with birdies on the tenth, 13th, 14th and 18th and making two bogeys and two gains on the front nine.
In the afternoon, Schuetz had shared the lead, eagling the tenth and picking up shots on the 13th, third and fourth but he bogeyed the eighth to drop back.
Van Velzen had a birdie-birdie finish and dropped just one shot in his 67, while Pulkkanen also made five birdies and a single bogey.
Englishman Joe Dean got to -5 66 in his round but bogeys on the seventh and eighth slipped him back to -3 69 alongside Dane Jonathan Gøth-Rasmussen, Scottish pair Craig Howie and Daniel Young, Kiwi Sam
Canada's Aaron Cockerill remains in contention, T38 out in 33 / 35 -2 back with all pars, single bogey for -1
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
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