Kenya Railway golfer John ‘Samburu One’ Lejirma feels a time has come for him to take the bull by its horns in the 56th edition of Magical Kenya Open (MKO) set for Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi on Thursday to Sunday.

For the first time in his fourth attempt, Lejirma is not aiming for the cut, but his focus is on a top 10 finish.

“From my fitness, I already have a feeling that I’m going to sail into the money bracket on the second day of the tournament, so my focus is to finish on a high, and that is among the top ten, ” the former Kenya One told Standard Sports.

“But I’m not putting pressure on myself, like in the other editions. I’m confident that my target will materialise.”

Despite punching a ticket to the MKO through wild card entry after finishing second behind Michael Karanga in the Kenya Amateur Golf ranking last season, Lejirma is convinced that this is his season to shine in the global golf showdown.

“I’m ready to prove the doubting Thomases wrong. Some feel that even making the cut in the MKO is still a very lofty dream for me to achieve,” he said.

And what went wrong for him in the last three editions of the tournament?

“I was failed by my long and short game in my first attempt, but we rectified this with my coach John Liefland,” added Lejirma, who is also calling on the private sector, including MKO title sponsors Absa Bank Kenya, to come on board and support local golfers ahead of the tournament.

“In my second attempt, I had a lot of pressure on myself, which weakened my muscles and in the third attempt, I failed to manage the course properly. I was just playing for the sake of it, but now I’m headed to Muthaiga with a strategy,” he said

The course management strategy he is trying to master includes fighting stage fright, being mentally focused and avoiding his balls on the roughs. 

As he heads to Muthaiga, Lejirma is buoyed with the vast experience he gained from the Africa Amateur Golf Championship recently held at the Leopard Creek course in South Africa which he was attending for the third time in a row.

He is also fresh from an Amateur Golf Championship in Rwanda that ended at the weekend.

“I used the opportunity to refresh my mind ahead of the tough showpiece that awaits in Muthaiga.”