Fresh from winning last week’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, South African Justin Harding will be making a grand comeback to Kenya in less than 12 months hoping to end the jinx which saw him finish T18 in the 2018 Sunshine Tour’s Karen Masters.
The South African, who hit golfing headlines last week with his maiden European Tour win, will no doubt be one of the stars to watch this week as the Road To Dubai continues with the 51st Magical Kenya Open, presented by ABSA. Action proper starts tomorrow through to Sunday.
Last year, Harding wrapped up his Karen Masters campaign with a gross total of 6 under par 278 which wasn’t that good considering his exploits on the Sunshine Tour. At the Doha Golf Club last week, he birdied three of the last four holes to win the Qatar Masters by two strokes on Sunday to earn his first European Tour title.
The South African shot 6-under 66 in the final round for a 13-under total of 275, ahead of a packed group in second which included compatriots George Coetzee (68), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (68), Erik Van Rooyen (70) and overnight leader Oliver Wilson.
Harding, who won twice on the Asian Tour and twice on the Sunshine Tour in 2018, has since moved to 52nd in the World Golf Ranking. The top 50 by April 1 will receive an invite to the Masters, the year’s first major.
The 33-year-old Harding who will play in today’s Pro-Am at Karen told the Golf Channel: “It was a really good day, hugely rewarding. I feel as though I’ve been putting in a lot of hard graft trying to improve my game to get to those next levels and to finally notch one on the European Tour is awesome ... I’m looking forward to playing in some bigger events and keeping the form going.” Harding played college golf at Lamar University in Texas and represented his country as an amateur golfer.
\Having graduated, he earned a place on the Sunshine Tour at the first attempt, finishing third at the 2009 qualifying school while still an amateur. He won a tournament in each of his first three seasons on the tour, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
He won again in 2015 and 2016 and then twice in two weeks in 2018. In July 2018, Harding made a rare appearance outside Africa and won the Bank BRI Indonesia Open on the Asian Tour by a stroke from Scott Vincent. Two weeks later he won the Royal Cup in Thailand by six strokes.
