Curtains came down on the 56th edition of the Magical Kenya Open (MKO) golf championship in Muthaiga, Nairobi at the weekend, with South African Jacques Kruyswijk emerging as the new champion.
The 32-year-old won the tournament by two shots, on 18 under par 266 against his playing partner John Parry to record his first-ever DP World Tour victory on Kenyan soil.
While highlighting the victory, Kruyswijk said: “It’s special. I’m a little bit lost for words but this is for my family back home, my friends, my team and this is for South Africa.”
“I’m happy that I can keep the trophy on African soil and obviously bring it back to South Africa. It makes me very proud. I’m super proud of myself with the mindset I’ve had this week and the way I’ve played this golf course. What can I say? I’m happy.”
“It is unbelievable. The people here have been fantastic. You can see them supporting me, they’ve been out here in their numbers today so I can’t be thankful enough.”
Even before the dust settles down, the fairy tale champion will be on the fairways again this Thursday, playing at home in Durban at the Investec South African Open Championship.
Indeed, this should be a wake up call to Kenyan pros who went to the MKO already ‘unfit’ after spending a whole year without a proper series for buildup.
The result was there to be seen in the MKO as no Kenyan made the cut for the second year running in the global golf showdown that put the country on the world map.
Despite the lacklustre performance by the hosts at Muthaiga Golf Club, there is hope through the juniors who were granted a chance to prove their mettle in a shootout against the international pros on the par-3 13th.
The trio of Mitansh Thacker, Kevin Anyien and Kanana Muthomi each won an Absa Bank Junior Account loaded with Sh50,000.
Also, another junior, Shashwat Harish,15, gave a good account of himself on his MKO debut, finishing second locally behind Riz Charania who topped the Kenyan ranking in the global showdown.
This year’s MKO was like no other as it attracted eight former champions, five of which failed to make it into the money bracket on Day 3.
The tournament also exposed the local pros body, the Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) that indicated that the players are currently not reading on the same script.
On the business front, many took the opportunity during the tournament to make an extra coin and among those who smiled to the banks were caddies who were earning up to Sh10,000 per round of golf.
About 17,000 spectators attended the four-day event that had over 500 million eyeballs across the world watching.
The fans, spectators and revellers also had good moments at the Games Village where the party never stopped. They ate, drank, sang and danced to their fill.
