Daniel Gavins sits on seven under and a shot clear of Shubhankar Sharma and Johannes Veerman; Dean Burmester three back and defending champion Justin Harding four behind - watch live on Friday from 10am on Sky Sports Golf
Thursday 3 March 2022 17:22, UK
Daniel Gavins carded the lowest round of his DP World Tour career to grab a one-shot lead after the opening round of the Magical Kenya Open presented by Absa.
The Englishman, winner of the ISPS Handa World Invitational last July, mixed nine birdies with two bogeys on his way to a seven-under 64 at Muthaiga Golf Club.
Beginning on the back nine, Gavins took advantage of the par-five 10th and responded to back-to-back bogeys from the 13th by making six birdies in a seven-hole stretch around the turn.
Gavins then picked up the seventh and holed a 70-footer at the ninth to set a clubhouse target that could not be matched, with Shubhankar Sharma and Johannes Veerman a shot off the pace in tied-second.
"It was pretty rusty to start with, I hadn't played for a couple of weeks but I just started holing a few putts," Gavins said. "My second shot at the ninth (his last) hit the flag and it knocked it 60 or 70 feet back down the green.
"Obviously I holed the 70-footer which was a bit surprising, but it was nice to finish with a birdie. My swing has been a bit off at the start of the year and I've been struggling a little bit with finding the feeling, but today I felt a few things that were nice and it was positive really."
Veerman also got to seven under until a penultimate-hole bogey dropped him back alongside Sharma, who made a bogey-free start, while Lee Slattery sits two strokes back in a share of fourth with Scotland's Ewen Ferguson.
Dean Burmester - the highest-ranked player in the field - opened with a blemish-free 67 to join Wil Besseling and Masahiro Kawamura on four under, while defending champion Justin Harding is part of a large group four off the lead.
"Overall I'm really pleased, it's nice to be close to the lead," Burmester said. "It's a lot more defensive a strategy this week, it's a lot more two irons for me. The ball goes miles here so you don't really need to hit driver, just get two iron in the fairway and you'll have a few wedges and some chances."
Watch the Magical Kenya Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues on Friday from 10am on Sky Sports Golf.
