South African Casey Jarvis fired ten birdies and two bogeys at the Magical Kenya Open presented by absa to take a share of the opening lead at 8-under.
“I’m super pleased with the round. I started off with a bogey and thought it wasn’t going to be the best day, but I turned it around pretty quickly and pleased with what I shot,” said Jarvis.
“I came into the week saying I should be really aggressive, and I think I was pretty aggressive off the tees. I hit the driver nicely and I took advantage of that.
“Around a course like this, I think if you’re on with your driver, you can shoot pretty low. I think being aggressive on a course like this does suit me in a way.
“It’s tough to look ahead of what can happen, so I just stay present and in the moment. Whatever happens, happens.”
Sweden’s Niklas Lemke had shot a bogey-free 62 featuring an eagle at the par-5 18th earlier in the day to set the clubhouse target and currently shares the lead.
“I think I’ve shot eight under before but not a 62, so I’m pleased with that,” said Lemke.
“It was a nice way to finish. I played fairly solid the whole day. I started off a little so-so but I found my golf striking on the back nine, so it was a good day.
“I like these kinds of golf courses. They are a little short, old school, tricky. You have to think your way around it a little bit. I enjoy being here.”
Tied in third place at 7-under are Scotland’s David Law and Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat who both made one bogey for 63s.
Magical Kenya Open defending champion Jacques Kruyswijk of South Africa made an eagle at the par-5 2nd as well as five birdies and four bogeys for a 67 and lies in T34 at 3-under.

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| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LEMKE, Niklas | -8 | 62 |
| | JARVIS, Casey | -8 | 62 |
| 3 | LAW, David | -7 | 63 |
| | APHIBARNRAT, Kiradech | -7 | 63 |
| 5 | AYORA, Angel | -6 | 64 |
| | JOHNSTON, Ryggs | -6 | 64 |
| | LINDBERG, Mikael | -6 | 64 |
| | LAGERGREN, Joakim | -6 | 64 |
| | GOUVEIA, Ricardo | -6 | 64 |
| 10 | SCRIVENER, Jason | -5 | 65 |
| ROZNER, Antoine | -5 | 65 | |
| | REPETTO TAYLOR, Rocco | -5 | 65 |
| | LAWRENCE, Thriston | -5 | 65 |
| | LACROIX, Frederic | -5 | 65 |
| | GUILLAMOUNDEGUY, Oihan | -5 | 65 |
| 16 | BALDWIN, Matthew | -4 | 66 |
| | GUMBERG, Jordan | -4 | 66 |
| | KIBUGU, Njoroge | -4 | 66 |
| | LAPORTA, Francesco | -4 | 66 |
| | PULKKANEN, Tapio | -4 | 66 |
| | KIMSEY, Nathan | -4 | 66 |
| | RODRIGUES, Daniel | -4 | 66 |
| | HALVORSEN, Andreas | -4 | 66 |
| | SÖDERBERG, Sebastian | -4 | 66 |
| | JONSSON, Tobias | -4 | 66 |
| COCKERILL, Aaron | -4 | 66 | |
| | STEINLECHNER, Maximilian | -4 | 66 |
| | HARDING, Justin | -4 | 66 |
| | VAN VELZEN, Ryan | -4 | 66 |
| | KAEWKANJANA, Sadom | -4 | 66 |
| | FITZPATRICK, Alex | -4 | 66 |
| | LEVY, Alexander | -4 | 66 |
| | BIONDI FIGUEIREDO, Frederico | -4 | 66 |
| 34 | DANTORP, Jens | -3 | 67 |
| | POWER, Mark | -3 | 67 |
| | WIESBERGER, Bernd | -3 | 67 |
| | MANASSERO, Matteo | -3 | 67 |
| | HILL, Calum | -3 | 67 |
| | LUITEN, Joost | -3 | 67 |
| | ELVIRA, Manuel | -3 | 67 |
| | TOOROP, Mike | -3 | 67 |
| | KRUYSWIJK, Jacques | -3 | 67 |
| | FOLLETT-SMITH, Benjamin | -3 | 67 |
| | MORRISON, James | -3 | 67 |
| | OLESEN, Jacob Skov | -3 | 67 |
| | AHLAWAT, Veer | -3 | 67 |
| | BERRY, Joshua | -3 | 67 |
| | ARNAUS, Adri | -3 | 67 |
| | BRYANT, Davis | -3 | 67 |
| 50 | GARCIA-HEREDIA, Alfredo | -2 | 68 |
| DE LEO, Gregorio | -2 | 68 | |
| | DING, Wenyi | -2 | 68 |
| | LARRAZÁBAL, Pablo | -2 | 68 |
| | BRADBURY, Dan | -2 | 68 |
| | VAN DRIEL, Darius | -2 | 68 |
| | TOWNSEND, Hugo | -2 | 68 |
| | JORDAN, Matthew | -2 | 68 |
| | JAMIESON, Scott | -2 | 68 |
| | VIDAL, Quim | -2 | 68 |
| | NEMECZ, Lukas | -2 | 68 |
| | GARCIA, Sebastian | -2 | 68 |
| | LANGASQUE, Romain | -2 | 68 |
| | SCHOTT, Freddy | -2 | 68 |
| | DU PLESSIS, Hennie | -2 | 68 |
| | VAN TONDER, Daniel | -2 | 68 |
| | GALLEGOS, Andres German | -2 | 68 |
| | LOMBARD, Zander | -2 | 68 |
| | BERGSTROM, Albin | -2 | 68 |
| 69 | BUCHANAN, Jack | -1 | 69 |
| | SCHMIDT, Ben | -1 | 69 |
| | NSAZUWERA, Celestin | -1 | 69 |
| | RAVETTO, David | -1 | 69 |
| | DEAN, Joe | -1 | 69 |
| | CAMPILLO, Jorge | -1 | 69 |
| | SCHNEIDER, Marcel | -1 | 69 |
| | MICHELUZZI, David | -1 | 69 |
| | YULE, Jack | -1 | 69 |
| | SANDHU, Yuvraj | -1 | 69 |
| | OTAEGUI, Adrian | -1 | 69 |
| | WALKER, Euan | -1 | 69 |
| | HIDALGO, Angel | -1 | 69 |
| | PREMLALL, Yurav | -1 | 69 |
| | TARREN, Callum | -1 | 69 |
| | ADAM, Cameron | -1 | 69 |
| 85 | LOGAN, Hunter | Par | 70 |
| | WINTHER, Jeff | Par | 70 |
| | KINHULT, Marcus | Par | 70 |
| | SIEM, Marcel | Par | 70 |
| | CELLI, Filippo | Par | 70 |
| | STERNE, Richard | Par | 70 |
| | KIEFFER, Maximilian | Par | 70 |
| | PAUL, Yannik | Par | 70 |
| | BJERREGAARD, Lucas | Par | 70 |
| | DEBOVE, Quentin | Par | 70 |
| | ZHOU, Yanhan | Par | 70 |
| | CANTERO, Ivan | Par | 70 |
| | YOUNG, Daniel | Par | 70 |
| | SENIOR, Jack | Par | 70 |
| | PARATORE, Renato | Par | 70 |
| | HOLLICK, Michael | Par | 70 |
| MIGLIOZZI, Guido | Par | 70 | |
| | MAZZOLI, Stefano | Par | 70 |
| | NORGAARD, Niklas | Par | 70 |
| | CLEMENTS, Todd | Par | 70 |
| | MUDANYI, Edwin | Par | 70 |
| 106 | SHARMA, Shubhankar | +1 | 71 |
| | DAFFUE, MJ | +1 | 71 |
| | SYME, Connor | +1 | 71 |
| | ROBINSON THOMPSON, Brandon | +1 | 71 |
| | RITCHIE, JC | +1 | 71 |
| | KIBUGU, Mutahi | +1 | 71 |
| | BROOMHEAD, Jonathan | +1 | 71 |
| | LEJIRMA, John (AM) | +1 | 71 |
| | ZANOTTI, Fabrizio | +1 | 71 |
| | MADOYA, Jastas | +1 | 71 |
| | REBULA, Jovan | +1 | 71 |
| 117 | SORDET, Clément | +2 | 72 |
| | SANDHU, Jay Singh (AM) | +2 | 72 |
| | DEL REY, Alejandro | +2 | 72 |
| | GIRRBACH, Joel | +2 | 72 |
| | QUAYLE, Anthony | +2 | 72 |
| | CHARMASSON, Clement | +2 | 72 |
| | FERGUSON, Ewen | +2 | 72 |
| | ANYONYI, Dismas | +2 | 72 |
| 125 | NJOROGE, Samuel | +3 | 73 |
| | WAKHU, David | +3 | 73 |
| | WANGAI, C.J | +3 | 73 |
| | SNOW, Greg | +3 | 73 |
| | MORY, Félix | +3 | 73 |
| | NDUVA, Daniel | +3 | 73 |
| 131 | HARISH, Shashwat (AM) | +4 | 74 |
| | BLOMME, Adam | +4 | 74 |
| | VAILLANT, Tom | +4 | 74 |
| | WILLIAMS, Robin | +4 | 74 |
| | EPE, Francis | +4 | 74 |
| 136 | MANJI, Junaid (AM) | +5 | 75 |
| | HOSHINO, Rikuya | +5 | 75 |
| 138 | PEAKE, Ryan | +6 | 76 |
| | ERICKSON, Dan | +6 | 76 |
| | MEDIRATTA, Mohit | +6 | 76 |
| 141 | KISIA, Mike | +7 | 77 |
| | KARANGA, Michael (AM) | +7 | 77 |
| 143 | KIRAGU, Daniel (AM) | +8 | 78 |
| 144 | MCKINNEY, Connor | +9 | 79 |
