•After last weekend’s Qatar Masters, the race to Dubai resumes this morning as European Tour golfers begin the hunt for the 1.1million euros at stake in the Magical Kenya Open
•Kenyans will peg their hopes on Greg Snow and 51-year-old Dismas Indiza who finished first and second respectively on the Safari Tour golf series
Image: /FILE
After last weekend’s Qatar Masters, the race to Dubai resumes this morning as European Tour golfers begin the hunt for the 1.1million euros at stake in the Magical Kenya Open. The Race to Dubai, spanning 48 tournaments in 31 countries across four continents, is a season-long competition to crown the European Tour’s No 1 player.
Celebrating the global connectivity of Dubai and the European Tour, the list of champions since 2009 reads like a who’s who of modern-era greats, including three-time winner Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson with two titles, as well as Tommy Fleetwood, Martin Kaymer, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and most recently Francesco Molinari.
Formerly known as the Order of Merit, points are accumulated based on prize money won, with the top five ranked players at the end of the season sharing a $5million ‘Race to Dubai’ bonus pool. South African Justin Harding, who won Qatar Masters on Sunday is among the golfers to watch this week.
Harding moved to fifth in the ‘Race To Dubai’ and 52nd on the world ranking. As the leading Tour pros fight for a share of Race to Dubai points, locals will resume their long-standing hunt for the title which has remained elusive since inception in 1967.
Kenyans will peg their hopes on Greg Snow and 51-year-old Dismas Indiza who finished first and second respectively on the Safari Tour golf series. Others include Nelson Simwa (Vet Lab), Rizwan Charania (Windsor), Eric Ooko (Royal), David Wakhu (Golf Park) and CJ Wangai (Windsor).
Indiza has turned 51 incidentally on the same year the Kenya Open is celebrating its 51st edition and so is Kenya’s most decorated golfer Jacob Okello who landed a slot by invitation. “We are overly excited to get back into competition mode after a competitive season of the inaugural Safari Tour,” said Indiza.
Great Rift Valley’s Justus Madoya now in his second year as a professional said: “We have had a strong week of practice and all ready to go. It’s essential for us to remain focused and give it our all more so as event debuts the main Tour.
It’s a great honour to play in the same event alongside ex-Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn.” Although the 2019 Magical Kenya Open will be the first time it appears on the main Tour Schedule, 2018 marked the event’s 50th anniversary.
Past winners include Seve Ballesteros and Ian Woosnam before the event formed part of the European Challenge Tour schedule in 1991. A different winner has been crowned at the Kenya Open in each of the 26 editions since 1991, including Future Masters tournament Champion Trevor Immelman, who triumphed at Muthaiga in 2000.
Italian Lorenzo Gagli, who failed to make the cut at Qatar Masters, could make history in Kenya this week. Should he defend his title, which he won on the Challenge Tour circuit last year, he will become the first man to mount a successful defence, thereby becoming the first two-time winner of the Kenya Open since its debut on the Challenge Tour circuit in 1991.
Karen Country Club will have the honour of hosting the Magical Kenya Open’s debut as a European Tour event. The venue has played host to the event on nine occasions on the Challenge Tour, but this will be the first time since 2016.
Winners of the event at Karen Country Club include Haydn Porteous and Sebastian Soderberg, who are both in the field this week, and Edoardo Molinari, who triumphed in 2007. Internet sensation Ho-sung Choi will tee it up at the Kenya Open as he brings his unorthodox swing to a European Tour event this week.
The South Korean became a viral sensation after footage of his “fisherman’s swing” was widely shared on social media. The 45-year-old taught himself to play golf after reading about the game in magazines and his unique approach has seen him collect three worldwide titles, including the Casio World Open in Japan last year. Watch out for Choi’s one-of-a-kind swing this week, particularly his follow through where he lifts his right foot off the ground and swings it around his body before using one of several different finishing moves.
Apart from the tussle for the Kenya Open millions at stake, there will be the red jacket. The Green Jacket donned by the winner of the Masters' tournament at Augusta National is undoubtedly the most famous jacket in golf, but Kenya ramped up the fashion stakes by introducing a red jacket for last year’s Kenya Open.
For the first time ever, the winner of the Kenya Open—Gagli— received a locally-designed jacket in honour of his victory in East Africa. Designed by Kenyan fashion designer Nick Ondu of Nick Ondu Sartorial, the jacket is red in colour and has bespoke features on the back and arms. The jacket was introduced as part of the Kenya Open’s 50th-anniversary celebrations.