Magical Kenya Open 2023: Sibling rivalry between Kibugu brothers to spice up event

This week, childhood fights between the identical Kibugu brothers, Mutahi and Njoroge will be extended to the pristine Muthaiga Golf Club course in Nairobi.

The lush Muthaiga fairways will be hosting the 54^th edition of the Magical Kenya Open (MKO) from Thursday that has attracted 156 players across the world who will fight it out for the Sh252 million purse money.

Apart from the lucrative jackpot, one of the expected highlight of the European Tour event will be the fierce rivalry pitting Mutahi (22) and his younger brother Njoroge (19) on the pitch.

Mutahi will represent Kenya as a pro while Njoroge as an amateur. It will be the first time that the identical brothers will contest the global showpiece together and they cannot wait to show the world their mettle.

Just to show how competitive they are; the duo are just from sharpening their claws in South Africa ahead of the tournament.

Despite being an amateur, the competitive spirit in the brothers saw Absa Bank Kenya rope in Njoroge in their sponsorship plan for the eight Kenyan pros who were supported to a tune of Sh2.7 million last week ahead of the MKO event.

"We are glad to sponsor the players because it brings out the spirit of Africanacity which involves meeting every challenge with tenacity, ingenuity, positivity and creativity.

"As Africans, and importantly as Kenyans, we just never give up on what we do despite the challenges.

"We will always find various creative ways to just get things done and the game of golf is just about that," Absa Bank Kenya Chief Marketing Officer Carolyne Kendi told Standard Sports.

While Kibugu stayed in South Africa for seven months to play and earn a PGA Diploma in the sport, Njoroge took a different path to reach down south. Njoroge took his flight to South Africa courtesy of the Kenya Golf Union who sponsored all the six amateurs who qualified for this year's MKO.

Both siblings are looking forward to put the great skills learned in South Africa into good use in the MKO in order to 'floor' each other. But who will kiss the canvas?

"It is true, Njoroge and I have been very competitive since childhood, but in a positive way. I'm happy that our childhood fights will now be extended to the pitch. We will apply the skills learnt in the game to cruise over each other.

"I can guess this rivalry is going to be exciting and some sort of fun. It is going to be a real motivation for us to focus and do better in the tournament.

"We are already arguing on who will perform better than the other and this has motivated all of us to train, work hard and aim for the cut," Mutahi underlined.

By qualifying for this year's MKO, Mutahi says this shows childhood dreams do come true.

"Our parents sacrificed a lot for us to play golf and being in an international stage like the MKO will be a great honor to them. It means everything to us as a family and to our friends too," he underscored.

It will be the first time that Mutahi will be taking part in MKO as a pro. He first took part in the tournament as an amateur in 2019 in Karen, unfortunately he did not sail into the money bracket on day two of the event.

Last year, Njoroge was the only Kenyan who made the cut in the MKO.

Seeing his brother perform well in the tournament last season was a great motivation to Mutahi who made a resolution to book a berth in this year's championship, and he is glad that he was able to do so convincingly after finishing fifth overall in the Safari Tour series that acted as a qualifier to the 2023 MKO for the local charges.

Ahead of the MKO at Muthaiga on Thursday, Mutahi says he is putting emphasis on gym and road work to improve his flexibility.

"I want to keep getting stronger and more fit because this will sharpen my mental focus, as a golfer mental toughness makes one unrivaled," he said.

Mutahi's target in the MKO is a top 20 finish apart from aiming for the cut. He plans to come up with a concrete game plan a day or two to the event after he sees how the pin positions are placed.

Mutahi admits that being a Muthaiga player will give him some sort of advantage in the tournament as he is very good with the greens and knows most of the lines on the course.

"I don't have to look at the lines twice, I know where to miss, off the tees and the best places to stand and be," he says.

Mutahi believes the Kenyan squad of eight pros and six amateurs for the tournament is very solid as it is composed of both youth and experience who should give the country glory.

Kenyan amateurs for the 2023 MKO-Njoroge Kibugu, John Lejirma, Jay Sandhu, Dennis Maara, Daniel Kiragu, Adel Balala

Kenyan pros for the 2023 MKO- Jastas Madoya, Greg Snow, Samuel Njoroge, Mike Kisia, Mutahi Kibugu, Simon Ngige, Dismas Indiza, Daniel Nduva