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Cape Town - Louis de Jager opened up a commanding four-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Magical Kenya Open after carding a second round of 66 in Nairobi.
The South African shared the overnight lead with England's Jack Singh Brar going into Day Two at Karen Country Club, but after bagging seven birdies today he put daylight between himself and the rest of the field.
"I had to find my feet a bit at the start of the season but I'm feeling comfortable out here now," said De Jager.
"I told the guys when we played a practice round on Tuesday, after the desert, you could feel you were in Africa, back in our continent. You get used to the feel of the Kikuyu grass, and the ball travels the same as back home in Pretoria, distance wise, so it really feels like we're back home."
De Jager, who triumphed on the Sunshine Tour earlier this year, will have history on his side going into the weekend because over the last five seasons a player has led by four or more shots after 36 holes on ten occasions on the European Tour - with seven going on to win.
"My game plan over the weekend is not to be too aggressive. The most important thing is hitting the fairways and hitting the greens because the greens are quite small. If you hit the greens you've always got a good birdie chance here," said the South African.
Four shots off the pace in a share of second place are Singh Brar and Spaniard Adri Arnaus. Both European Challenge Tour graduates, the pair are well poised to make a charge for a maiden European Tour title after rounds of 70 and 68 respectively today.
In contention again is South African Justin Harding, who is five behind his countryman de Jager.
The world No 52, who triumphed in Qatar last week, is looking to become the first player to win back-to-back European Tour events since Justin Rose, who achieved the feat in 2017.
Scores after Round Two:
130 L De Jager (RSA) 64 66,
134 A Arnaus (Esp) 66 68, J Singh Brar (Eng) 64 70,
135 G Bhullar (Ind) 65 70, G Migliozzi (Ita) 67 68, J Harding (RSA) 70 65,
136 L Johnston (Sco) 67 69, S Manley (Wal) 71 65,
137 A Cockerill (Can) 69 68, R Langasque (Fra) 67 70, G Fdez-Castaño (Esp) 71 66, K Samooja (Fin) 70 67,
138 G Coetzee (RSA) 72 66, L Jensen (Den) 71 67,
139 C S (Ind) 70 69, H Leon (Chi) 67 72, K Koivu (Fin) 70 69, M Schneider (Ger) 70 69, I Cantero Gutierrez (Esp) 71 68, A Karlsson (Swe) 69 70, M Schmitt (Ger) 69 70, H Park (Kor) 69 70,
140 C Sharvin (Nir) 69 71, P Figueiredo (Por) 72 68, T Bjørn (Den) 70 70, S Ngige (Ken) 68 72, R Gouveia (Por) 74 66, J Geary (Nzl) 67 73, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 67 73, T Murray (Eng) 72 68, M Nixon (Eng) 69 71, M Hoey (Nir) 66 74,
141 K Joshi (Ind) 72 69, C Syme (Sco) 71 70, N Lemke (Swe) 72 69, K Reitan (Nor) 73 68, J Veerman (USA) 76 65, J Senior (Eng) 69 72, D Cooke (USA) 70 71,
142 J Catlin (USA) 71 71, C Hill (Sco) 71 71, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 67 75, C Blomstrand (Swe) 70 72, S Soderberg (Swe) 70 72, O Wilson (Eng) 72 70, B Stow (Eng) 75 67, N Cullen (Aus) 72 70, H Porteous (RSA) 69 73, R McGowan (Eng) 74 68, J Madoya (Ken) 71 71, B Easton (RSA) 72 70, H Sturehed (Swe) 73 69, M Lafeber (Ned) 72 70, E Ferguson (Sco) 73 69,
143 J Girrbach (Sui) 72 71, P Angles (Esp) 73 70, H Joannes (Bel) 70 73, J Dean (Eng) 75 68, S Tiley (Eng) 73 70, S Crocker (USA) 72 71, C Sordet (Fra) 70 73, B Virto (Esp) 75 68, J Lima (Por) 75 68, N Geyger (Chi) 76 67,
144 D Boote (Wal) 69 75, R Macintyre (Sco) 71 73, B Evans (Eng) 72 72, D Van Driel (Ned) 71 73, B Ritthammer (Ger) 71 73, R Paratore (Ita) 74 70, N McCarthy (Eng) 73 71, J Winther (Den) 80 64, A Saddier (Fra) 72 72, M Fenasse (Fra) 75 69, O Lengden (Swe) 74 70, M Simonsen (Den) 73 71, M Orrin (Eng) 74 70, O Farr (Wal) 70 74, S Forsström (Swe) 74 70,
145 S Brown (Eng) 73 72, D Indiza Anyonyi (Ken) 69 76, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 74 71, D Huizing (Ned) 72 73, M Manassero (Ita) 73 72, R De Sousa (Sui) 77 68, P Langfors (Swe) 73 72, S Sharma (Ind) 74 71, Y Liu (Chn) 70 75, J Kruyswijk (RSA) 71 74, G Moynihan (Irl) 72 73, G Havret (Fra) 75 70, L Gagli (Ita) 73 72, G Snow (Ken) 73 72, D Borda (Esp) 73 72,
146 G Bourdy (Fra) 76 70, S Gros (Fra) 73 73, M Siem (Ger) 71 75, C Berardo (Fra) 74 72, A Knappe (Ger) 72 74, C Lloyd (Eng) 71 75, D Wakhu (Ken) 74 72, N Simwa (Ken) 74 72, S Vincent (Zim) 73 73, S Chege (am) (Ken) 75 71,
147 D Gavins (Eng) 73 74, C Braeunig (Ger) 75 72, P Mejow (Ger) 71 76, J Thomson (Eng) 73 74, S Han (USA) 75 72, L Canter (Eng) 73 74, A Rozner (Fra) 71 76, T Omuli (Ken) 72 75, C Hanson (Eng) 75 72, D Opati (Ken) 76 71,
148 J Choi (Kor) 72 76, R Evans (Eng) 75 73, P Kasozi (Uga) 77 71,
149 M Iten (Sui) 75 74, C Ross (Sco) 74 75, M Jordan (Eng) 76 73, D Nduva (am) (Ken) 76 73,
150 H Choi (Kor) 73 77, J Abbott (Eng) 72 78, C Wangai (Ken) 79 71, E Cuartero Blanco (Esp) 72 78,
151 O Obura (Ken) 78 73, E De La Riva (Esp) 76 75, R Dawson (Irl) 83 68, S Fernandez (Esp) 78 73, U Coussaud (Fra) 75 76, D Lawson (Aus) 72 79,
152 D Stewart (Sco) 74 78, D Odhiambo (Ken) 74 78,
154 R Charania (Ken) 78 76, 155 E Mudanyi (am) (Ken) 73 82, 157 J Okello (Ken) 80 77, M Wiegele (Aut) 77 80, 158 A Nandwa (Ken) 79 79,
160 K Mutahi (am) (Ken) 76 84,
161 S Gregory (Eng) 81 80,
163 B Mogire (am) (Ken) 77 86,
164 M Kisia (am) (Ken) 83 81,
** E Kofstad (Nor) 71 RT, M Kawamura (Jpn) RT 0
