Samantha Bruce fired an excellent round of five-under-par on day two of the Magical Kenya Ladies Open to move up the leaderboard.
The 23-year-old is the second player from the Philippines to play on the Ladies European Tour (LET) having earned Category 16 status in December.
After an opening round of 76 (+3) which left her near the cut line at the end of the first day, Bruce changed her mentality.
The change came to fruition as she produced a bogey-free round of five-under-par to see her climb into the top 10 at Vipingo Ridge.
“Honestly, I’m just very grateful to have my first start on the LET especially with not making the top 20 at Q-School,” she said.
“I wasn’t really sure when my first event would be, so first of all I’m very grateful to about here. Essentially, what I have been thinking about the past two days is making the most of the opportunity that I have.
“The first round wasn’t too great, I was right on the cut line coming into today and all I thought was anything could happen so make the most out of it and enjoy it as well because who knows when my next event will be.
“As of now, I’m projected to play in Australia in April so I was like okay who knows, this could be my last round but hopefully not. I’m really happy I was able to fight through today especially with the tough wind conditions, so that was really good for me.”
The Baobab Course can prove a tricky challenge to start the season on the LET and Bruce experienced that on the first day.
For her round of three-over, she had two birdies, three bogeys and one double bogey on her scorecard.
One of the main factors was that she found it difficult to find the fairway but in the second round, she rectified that and had good irons.
She explained: “The course itself, even without the wind, you have to put yourself in the right place off the tee. Other than that, I feel like the course is in good condition. There’s nothing unexpected, so right off the tees is where you have to put the most focus and with the wind picking today, I knew that was where I really had to focus.
“Yesterday I made three fairways, so today I said I need to make a little bit more and it will be a little bit easier, and I got them. I’m happy I did; I think that really helped me shoot five-under today.
“Being in the fairway helped a lot, but the best part of my game today was my irons and my approach shots. I gave myself a lot of chances for birdies. A lot of people also think about what they left out there and I think I did leave a lot out there but that’s only because I gave myself so many chances. You don’t always make all your putts but because I gave myself a lot of chances with my approach shots, I had a lot of birdies today.
“I think I’m just going to continue how I’ve felt from the beginning and just be grateful to be out here. I feel like having that mindset allows me to be a little bit more positive and relaxed about the week and just allowing myself to play the game I know I can play. Keeping that grateful attitude out there.”
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