By Charles Gacheru, Nairobi
Chinese professional, Ashun Wu, was a lucky man to come from behind to win the 2022 Magical Kenya Open on his debut. He became the first Chinese player to win the feat, earning himself a cash prize of Ksh 36.3 million (€291.660).
He was hardly noticed until he shot a third-round five-under-par 66, having qualified for the money list with rounds of 69 and 68. He wound up with a brave six-under-par 65 which took him to the top with an impressive 16-under-par 268. Wu fired 6 under par 65 to clinch victory at the Muthaiga Golf Club in front of a crowd graced by the presence of Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta.
“It’s a big celebration, I’m so happy with my family here. It’s a very very good feeling today to win a championship. I played very very well today and made seven birdies,” said Ashun in his victory speech.
“After two rounds, I told myself – if I can make five under every day on the weekend and finish 15 under, I think I’ll have a chance to win the tournament and it has happened,” he added excitedly.
Besides being the first Chinese golfer to win the Kenya Open, the 36-year-old is also the first Chinese player to win three times on the European Tour.In 2015, he became the first Chinese player to win on home soil in a European Tour event when he captured the Volvo China Open.
Wu fired 6 under par 65 to clinch victory at the Muthaiga Golf Club in front of a crowd graced by the presence of Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta.
Since his maiden triumph, he has collected wins at the 2016 Lyoness Open and the 2018 KLM Open.All these feats make Ashun the DP World Tour’s most successful Chinese golfer.
But while Wu was moving slowly to the top, another Asian player, ShubhankarSharma of India, was taking a nosedive, eventually finishing out of the top 10 on eight-under-par 275 to tie in 13th place with, among others, one of the pre-tournament favourites Jorge Campillo of Spain.
Wu, one of the three Chinese professionals currently ranked in the DP World Tour series run and managed by the European Tour Limited, improved his rank from 28th to sixth position on the Tour.He will definitely be a man to watch on the rest of the Tour this season.
It was, however, a tough encounter for Kenyan professionals as not even a single one, unlike last year, was able to go past the first two rounds.
Some of the more successful years for Kenyans at the event include 1998 when Jacob Okello finished second and won the equivalent of about one million shillings. Okello finished T5 in 2006 and finished T4 in 2007. Okello has not made another cut at the event since then.
The other two who ever made the cut at Kenya Open are Simon Ngige who finished T25 and JastusMadoya finished T72 at the 2019 Open.
The field, with added money, continues to be too strong.Unlike the Challenge Tour where a number of local pros have made it to the money list before, the DP World Tour series is a different story. It’s the only Tour in the world which attracts players from every corner of the globe.
Thus the local pros will have to double their efforts, or better still find a formula that will help them take on the visiting pros effectively.As it is, the Safari Tour doesn’t appear to be enough training ground, unless it is upgraded to include a bigger purse and bigger fields. This in addition to other playing opportunities the local pros will be able to access.
HopeIn Njoroge Kibugu
Eighteen-year-old NjorogeKibugu, a member at Muthaiga Golf Club, made all that local knowledge count as a bogey-free 66 moved him to six under on home soil. He finished round two birdie-eagle to make a cut becoming the only Kenyan, East African for that matter, to make it to the final rounds.
He may have not won the overall title, but this young man captured the attention of East Africa at Magical Kenya Open presented by Absa Bank.
In recognition of his sterling performance, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that the young golfer will be sponsored by the Government of Kenya to participate in the Soudal Open that will be held in Belgium between May 12th and 15th this year.
“We will also sponsor his transition to professional golf. That will include supporting him with trainers and making sure that we pay them well and also provide him with a fitted golf kit to enable him to truly join the ranks of the best in the world,” said President Kenyatta.
Kibugu was one of the six Kenya amateurs who played at the 2022 Magical Kenya Open presented by Absa Bank. Other amateurs were Taimur Malik, Michael Karanga, Adel Balala, John Lejirmah and Dennis Maara.
Kibugu started his golfing career at Muthaiga Golf Club at the age of six, following his brother MutahiKibugu. Njoroge attributes his success to his family and caddy saying, “This good run wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my father, mother and caddy Bo Ciera.”
Having gone through the first two rounds with an impressive performance of six under par, Kibugu will be a player to watch at next year’s Open. All he needs is to keep on improving his game preparation.
Admittedly, Kibugu said he had not paid more attention to his physical preparation.
“I have not been putting extra attention on my gym work lately. But I will from now henceforth, will put a routine plan to make sure that I am at par with every aspect of my training programme,” he said.
This is the eleventh year that Absa Bank (formerly Barclays Bank) is sponsoring the European Tour/DP World Tour tournament. The event brought together 150 golfers from Kenya and across the world. Eight Kenyan professionals, six Kenyan amateurs and two regional players competed in the big tournament with a prize purse of US.2 million.
Charles Gacheru is a golf and sports marketing consultant and Director at IMG Kenya Ltd.cgacheru@imgkenya.com
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