Johannes Veerman credited a "grinding" putting session on Friday night to his success as he posted a stunning course record 62 to put himself right in contention for a first European Tour win at the 2021 Magical Kenya Open presented by Johnnie Walker.
The American spent two hours practising with the short stick after his second round 69 at Karen Country Club and it clearly paid off as he registered nine birdies to match the lowest round to par of the 2021 Race to Dubai so far.
His effort also eclipsed Robert MacIntyre's 63 in round four in 2019 as the lowest 18 holes in tournament history, and matched Veerman's own best European effort at the first playing of the South African Open last season.
He now heads into the final day in Nairobi just two shots off the lead at 14 under.
"I've been hitting it well all week so I just knew that if I could get it right on the putting greens that I could score a low one today," he said.
"This course is tough but if you hit it well there's a lot of birdies you can make - some driveable par fours, all the par fives are reachable - if you can get the flat stick rolling you can go deep.
"Yesterday I spent a lot of time just grooving my stroke down, trying to get the speed right and trying to get it down.
"Hole number two, I made a put from 15 feet and I thought 'oh my, I think this is it, I think we're rolling'.
"I'll just keep doing what I've been doing. I'm going to practise putting, see if it's still there, it should be still there after the round today.
"I'll just kind of keep the process going, I'm hitting it well, I'm putting it well now and for the most part, just keep it all in check. Do my post-round practice and then go for it again."
Countryman Kurt Kitayama was also at 14 under and he was happy with his day's work after a 66.
"I got off to a good start, got it going early, and overall I’m pretty happy with where I’m at," he said.
"I don’t think I have a score in mind, I’m just going to go out, play my game and just let it come to me.
"I’ll pay attention to the leaderboard and see what I’m going to do because I’m chasing right now. We’ll watch as we go along."
