Ronald Rugumayo, the first Ugandan to make a DP World Tour cut, is dedicating his fairy performance to East Africa.
The trailblazing Ugandan closed his four-day campaign in position 71 with a tournament total of two-over par 286 following rounds of 72, 70, 71 and 73.
On his historic Round Two on Friday, the Ugandan holed a birdie putt on the final hole to make the cut at Muthaiga Golf Club, creating some fantastic theater to the delight of fans surrounding the 18th green at the clubhouse.
“Coming into this year’s Kenya Open, I had a few targets. One was to do more than just making the cut. But my success this year is not about the player, not about Uganda. I am honoured to represent the whole of East Africa,” said Rugumayo.
The 31-year-old from Kabarole, Western made the Magical Kenya Open slot as one of the two regional players from Safari Tour alongside Vistor Mapwanya of Zimbabwe.
Asked what he felt after making the event’s cut, Rugumayo added: “I can’t express the feeling I have inside. I mean it’s just a surreal experience. My dream after the Kenya Open is to inspire young people in Uganda to take up golf.”
For Uganda, a country with fewer than 20 golf courses and without representation on any of golf’s major tours, Rugumayo’s Day Two birdie putt represented a breakthrough.
“It’s truly a magical moment that will be remembered in my country for ages. This is not about me or Uganda. It’s about East Africa as no Kenyan made the cut. So it's celebrations for us all,” said Rugumayo.
The footballer-turned-golfer also revealed what brought about a paradigm shift in the world of golf.
Rugumayo: “I started as a footballer together with my elder sibling but from around the age of 10, I succumbed to the lure of greens and fairways. My thinking then was that soccer was a team sport where you win as a team and in golf you win as an individual, hence the shift from soccer to golf.”
However, it was an unsuccessful hunt for hosts Kenya, who, for the first time since the introduction of DP World Tour (European Tour) status in Kenya in 2019, had no player make the cut.
None of the 13 locals got a share of the Sh377 million prize money.
