BEST OF THE BEST: Kenya's Indiza and Ngige finish 13th and 14th as Swede Soderberg wins as Kenya Open Golf

Sweden’s professional golfer Sebastian Soderberg is the winner of the 48th edition of Barclays Kenya Open Golf Championship.

The Delsjo Golf Club player emerged champion with an 18 under par 270 in the four day event contested by 156 golfers from around the world.

Soderberg fired five under par 67 in the last round at the par 72 Karen Country Club in Nairobi yesterday to sealed the victory and Sh3.7million in prize money. He had two birdies, five pars and a bogey in the front nine and four birdies and five pars in the second.

While receiving the coveted trophy from President Uhuru Kenyatta, who presided over the closing ceremony Soderberg said the win has excited and inspired him to focus on the rest of the European Challenge Tour series.

“This championship has been relatively tough, but now I look forward to the other legs as I have confidence that I am worth about them. I will place my best foot forward and see what the rest of the year holds for me,” he said.

Soderberg admitted he started the last round on a slow note which saw him overtaken by French and amateur player Romain Langasque at some point in the final lap yesterday.

“I had a glance at the leaderboard and then relaxed when I realized it was Romain who was leading. Even if he had won I knew I would still get the money anyway. I then started to perform better in the back nine and eventually I regained my first position,” he said.

Langasque, who had given Soderberg some goose bumps, settled for runners up place with 15 under par 273 after he hit a seven under 65 in the final round.

Since he is an amateur, Langasque could not get the Sh2.7 prize money allocated for the runners up place. The money went to third place finisher Bernd Ritthammer of Germany who finished with a 14 under par 274.

While giving prizes to the winners, President Uhuru encouraged them to work even further to better their golfing careers.

Mumias golfer Dismas Indiza tied with seven other golfers in 13th place after he ended the championship with three under par 285.

Indiza had a crazy day in the last round which he capped with a three over par 75. He blamed the dip on lack of better preparation after he failed to get sponsorship that could have made him attend worthy tournaments to help him prepare for the Kenya Open.

Thika golfer Simon Ngige improved dramatically on the last day of the championship by hitting a two under par 70 to rest at position 14 on the leaderboard where he tied with six other players.

Ngige opened his 8.10am tee off alongside Teemu Bakker of Finland and Phillip Mejow of Germany with a birdie in the par four hole one.

He followed it with a par in hole two, then a birdie in hole three. He birdied in holes four, five, six, seven and eight before finishing the first nine with a birdie in the 9th.