Royal Nairobi Golf Club’s elite amateur John Lejirma extended his fine form on day two of the Sunshine Development Tour–East Africa Swing at Ruiru Sports Club yesterday.

Lejirma carded a steady round of 3-under par 69 to take his total for the two days to 9-under par 135—five shots clear of his nearest challenger.

Lejirma was conservative on the front nine, heading out level thanks to a birdie on the 9th and a bogey on the 8th. On the back nine, he played bogey-free with birdies on the 10th, 13th, and 17th, seeing him card 33 for a total of 69 for the day.

Speaking after his round, Lejirma said: “I’m happy to be in this position going into the final round. I kept things tidy today. I stuck to the game plan and didn’t try to force anything. I was solid off the tee and made key putts when I needed to. The course played well, and I’m looking forward to finishing strong tomorrow.”

He now sits five shots ahead of veteran golfer Dismas Indiza of Kakamega Sports Club, whose solid round of 3-under par 69 saw him climb the leaderboard to second with a tournament total of 4-under par 140.

Teeing off from 10th in the company of Rwanda’s Celestin Nsanzuwera and Ndumberi’s Michael Karanga, Indiza played a bogey-free back nine, holing a birdie at the 11th for a total of 35.

On the first nine, he opened strong with back-to-back birdies on the 1st and 2nd holes, before holing his only bogey of the round at the 4th. He then shot a birdie at the ninth for a total of 34. He now sits one shot ahead of Railway Golf Club’s Samuel Njoroge on the leaderboard after the two rounds.

Indiza said: “Today was a good day for me. I’ve been striking the ball well all week, and today I managed to keep mistakes to a minimum.”