Trailed by hordes of spectators at the par 71 Karen Country Club course, Simon Ngige was all smile upon his closing birdie which catapulted him to T25 at the 51st Magical Kenya Open presented by Absa.
The 29-year-old Thika Sports Club professional send a legion of fans who had been trailing him throughout his round wild on the Par 4 18th after he chipped in from the fringe to the hole for birdie.
He drove home a lobe wedge chip on the same hole (18th), where he shot a triple bogey the previous day. Ngige, who made an eagle on the par 5 twelfth during Saturday’s penultimate round, fired 2 under par 68 yesterday to wrap up his four-day campaign on a gross total of 5 under par 279.
The man, who honed his skills at Njoro Golf Club since childhood, attributed his good run to a deliberate game plan to hit the greens and fairways with precision. His cut in this year’s event is his fourth after his initial in 2007 and three more since turning professional in 2009.
“My performance on this event didn’t come as a surprise to me as I had prepared for it. This couldn’t have come at a better time considering the Kenya Open is upgrading to the European Tour. I’m overly excited. Today (yesterday) was a great day for me. After stumbling on the 18th yesterday (Saturday), I told my caddie that all isn’t lost. We had lots of fun on the fairways and made sure we were not distracted by fans. Today (yesterday) there was no wind and this boosted our play immensely,” said Ngige.
The Thika man said he will take a two-day break before proceeding to the Sunshine Tour in Zambia, Zimbabwe and probably Botswana. Great Rift Valley’s Justus Madoya posted a disappointing 75 on the last day to dip 16 places down the leader board with five bogeys and a birdie on the par 5 sixth. He nevertheless parred 12 times to wrap up his campaign on a gross total of 5 over par 289. Madoya has posted a total of 11 birdies in this year’s event.
