“The ball goes miles out here, it and went about 330 and left me an easy enough wedge to a front pin,” he said of a “knuckled hybrid” at the 17th. “So it was really nice to come up with the goods there.
“The 18th was very reachable in two, to be fair, and I was only hitting an eight iron in, but it’s a tricky tee shot because you have to take it over a corner.
“If you overdo it, you’re in the jungle, and if you hit it a bit too far right, you can run through.
“But I’d been driving a good all day. So I was confident, and I backed myself, and nailed one around the corner.”
With just 200 yards to go — adjusted to 175 yards because of altitude — he “stood on an eight iron to a back pin” and flew his approach to 12 feet before brushing in the eagle putt.
“I was very proud of how I played coming in because the pressure of a cut line can loom up and be a bit tricky,” Power said.
“So I handled myself very well, and I’m looking forward to the next couple of days now, and hopefully I can keep the foot down.”
If it was a good day for Power in Kenya, it was a mixed bag for the Irish in the HotelPlanner Tour’s Jonsson Workwear Durban Open at Durban Country Club.
Galway’s Liam Nolan fired a five-under 67 to move up to 28th on five under, leaving him eight shots behind Sweden’s Christofer Blomstrand and Spain’s Santiago Tarrio.
West Waterford’s Gary Hurley was a shot outside the cut mark with three holes to go, but birdied the 18th to shoot 71 and make it on the three-under par mark.
But there was no joy for the other three Irishmen in action.
Max Kennedy was also a shot outside the mark through 15 holes, but he finished birdie-bogey to shoot 74 and miss out by a shot.
Liam Grehan also suffered a frustrating finish, making a quadruple bogey at the seventh and bogeys at the eighth and ninth to shoot 75 and miss out by six strokes.
Conor Purcell also has the weekend off after a 77 left him on four-over.
