Ruterana fights back

KCB East Africa Golf Tour-Kigali leg Round three results 1. R. Ainley 74 2182. J.Okello 73 2193. E.Ruterana 69 2194. S.Ngige 74 2215. Hakizimana 73 2216. A.Shah 73 2217. N.M Ngugi 71 2228. K.Timbe 74 2249. A.Kimani 75 22510. Odhiambo 76 225 A stunning round of 69 on day three (yesterday) saw home boy Emmanuel Ruterana crawl back in contention for the prestigious KCB East African Golf Tour Kigali leg title at Kigali Golf Club. After a sluggish start, consisting of rounds of 73 and 77 on the first two days, the 26-year-old hit five birdies on holes 4, 5, 9, 11, 17 to close in on Kenya’s Richard Ainley, who stayed atop of the leader board with a third round score of two-over-par to move to 218, one clear of Ruterana and Jacob Okello. Ruterana got off to a shaky start with an opening bogey, but soon calmed his nerves with two successive birdies from the fourth hole. The only blip on the back nine was a bogey at the 14th hole but he promptly replied with a birdie on the 17th hole, which came courtesy of a 30 feet putt on the green. Yesterday’s event gave him every chance of bouncing back in the four-day event. “I didn’t get off the best of starts, and after that thoughts start to go through your mind that maybe it’s not going to be your day. But I got going with a birdie on the fourth, and after that my confidence grew,” he told Times Sport. “Tomorrow will be difficult because I will be in the pressure group but I don’t want to put myself under pressure. I want to play according to the course.” Simon Ngige, Anil Shah and Rwanda’s Jean Baptista Hakizimana ended day three joint fourth with 221. Kenyans N. Ngugi, Kopan Timbe and Ali Kimani followed in 7th, 8th and 9th spot while David Odhiambo rounded off the top ten with an overall score of 225. The 2010 KCB East African Golf tour is a series of eight tournaments staged in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda. This year, the KCB group considerably upped their sponsorship from a mere Rwf7.125m to Rwf93.75m.The next leg will be held at the Nakuru Golf club in Kenya from June 16-17 while the grand finale is slated for August in Mombassa. Ends

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Ruterana fights back