This archive report was first published on 5 December 2019.
On the PGA Baobab course in Vipingo, Sweden's 18-year-old Julia Engstrom produced a solid round of five under par 67 to claim a one-shot lead going into Friday's second round of the Magical Kenya Ladies Open tournament.
Engstrom, who joined the tour last year, attributed her success to a combination of decent ball-striking and being good around the greens. "Last week in Spain I struck the ball exceptionally well and today I only hit 13 or 14 greens, but I made up and down on every green I missed. The greens I hit, I hit it close and made the birdie putts, so it was a combination of decent ball-striking and then being good around the greens," she said.
England's Liz Young, who played in the morning, had posted four under par 68, which included birdies on the fourth, seventh, 11th, 15th, and 17th. "I played really solid today and I think it's the motivation I had after also playing well in Spain where I made a few stupid mistakes. It was a top 20 finish, so I was happy," Young said.
Friday's second round, which is expected to decide the surviving 60 players and ties, is scheduled to start at 7:30 am, with those who played in the morning round teeing off in the afternoon and the early birds in the opening round tackling the tough course from 11:50 am.
