Kenya Open: Why our golfers are courses away from winning

President Uhuru Kenyatta at The Kenya Open. [File, Standard]

Kenyans who got bit by the Golf Bug after the turn of the century have had a long and disappointing wait in anticipation of a homegrown Kenyan professional golfer winning the Kenya Open. 
Indeed, since Jacob Okello lost in a playoff to Argentinian Ricardo Gonzales in 1998 and came out runner up, no other local Pro has finished in the top ten in the last twenty years.
The good news is that going by the action at the inaugural European Kenya Open Golf Championship played at Karen Club last month, there are positive signs this might change in the near future.
Thanks to team Magical Kenya, the 2019 Kenya Open lived to its top billing. The newly attained status into the European Tour saw an entry list featuring some of the high ranking golf professionals and winners on in the European Tour. Of note was that three of the four immediate Kenya Open Challenge Tour Champions were in the field.
Adding to the intensity of the competition, were recent European Tour winners like Shubhankar Sharma, Gaganjeet Bullar, George Cortzee and Renato Paratore. We expected one of them to win. It never came to be: Kenya Open lived up to its tradition of humbling stars while launching new champions. 

Kenya Open winner Guido Migliozzi is doused in champagne. [Archive/Standard]

The eventual winner, Italian Guido Migliozzi, had never posted a top ten in previous European Tour or Challenge Tour events, and the defending champion, another Italian, Lorenzo Gagli, did not even make the cut! Such is the vagary of the Kenya Open: there are no guarantees, you never know who will happen.
To Kenyans, the star of the moment was no doubt the local 35-year-old Pro Simon Mburu Ngige who finished tied for the 25th position. His chip-in at the final hole was pure class.
 No one displayed our excitement that the blatantly biased marshal who just could not help rushing to Ngige and giving him a huge bear hug while smiling big and wide for the world to see. In reality what had Ngige done? He had not won the Competition. He made the halfway cut, no mean feat considering the many chest-thumping long drivers who year in year out swear they will win our open, then don’t even make the cut.
Ngige finished T25? Not bad, but not good enough. A better question would be to ask how he had achieved that. Ngige is neither a young buck in golf nor an inexperienced professional golfer.
 He is 36-years-old and this was his 19th appearance at the Kenya Open.  How far can he go? It depends.
Watching Ngige’s style and composure, as he did his thing, told a lot. For starters, he is trim, fit and has a great swing. I like his swing finish: classic, and in total balance. He was comfortable and at ease as he played. 
That kind of attitude is borne of experience. Ignoring the TV cameras, while still feeding off the cheering crowds takes lots of exposure