Brace yourselves, the man with the wackiest swing in golf is here for the Magical Kenya Open Golf Championship

Beware the ides of March, the soothsayer whispered in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

Kenyan golfers had better heed that warning, but this time not because of the imminent danger of the betrayal the soothsayer prophesies, but because your idea of a golf swing is about to get shredded by the man with the wackiest swing on the planet.

Yes, South Korean Pro Hosung Choi sensation is in town for the Magical Kenya Open Golf Championship.

Choi is known for a swing that is so out of this world, and so comical that spectators and other golfers in his group cannot help bawling over with laughter the comment he finishes his swing.

Talk of a golf Gangnam style! A swing so strange, yet so successful, golf teaching Pros will have to think twice about the regimented one-size-fits-all swing they have been teaching.

You may already have seen the video already on social media or YouTube.

How Choi does not break a bone while at it baffles me.

Unlike other Pros who end their swing while well balanced, all weight on the right left leg, the right foot vertical resting just so lightly on the ground, club shaft beautifully laid across the shoulders, Choi finishes his swing grossly out of balance and almost toppling over, all his weight on the right foot and the left leg high up in the air! Even Happy Gilmore couldn’t beat this one.

His idiosyncratic “The Fisherman Swing” takes an appearance of an angler hauling in a 10kg tuna from the depths of the Pemba Channel. 

It has become so iconic that it earned him an invitation to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in the USA last month. This is a glitzy golf competition where only a select golfing celebrities, the rich and the famous of America get to play and hobnob with PGA Tour Pros.

Invitation cards are few and extremely difficult to secure.

This Pro-Am event has seen state personalities like former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Saxophone Maestro Kenny G, baritone crooner Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish, movie actors Bill Murray, Don Cheadle, Ray Romano, Clint Eastwood, and an A-list of NBA, MLB and NFL sports stars.

Choi earned an invitation to the AT&T after almost qualifying for this year’s British Open (The Open).

He was also in serious contention at this year’s Korea Open where he had tied for second during the second and third rounds, despite his zany swing. And there lies the secret to his success: as others are laughing at him, Choi is raking in some serious cash.

Don’t be fooled by the crazy-looking swing: Choi is a serious golfer. Since 2013 he has played primarily on the Japan Golf Tour and is a four-time winner on the Japanese and Korean tours. 

He won the 2008 SBS Hana Championship and Lake Hill Open in Korea. He also won the 2013 Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia PGA Championship making him eligible for Japan Golf Tour membership, where he won the Casio World Open in 2018.

Unfortunately, the very cold, wet and rainy at Pebble frustrated his game and those who had come to marvel at his antics. According to him, the Poa annua grass on the greens baffled him.

Hello, Choi! Welcome to Kikuyu grass, Mr Choi. Think of it as Poa annua on steroids. Ian Poulter can tell you horror stories about tall Kikuyu grass rough.

This year’s Kenya Open promises some serious fireworks. Three of the last four winners of when it was a Challenge Tour event are in contention, no doubt driven by the idea of making history by winning it again, this time as a European Tour event.

Leading the chase is last year’s winner, Italian Lorenzo Gagli who hoisted the Bronze rhino trophy and donned the first ever red Kenya Open Jacket at Muthaiga.

His previous wins were on the Alps Tour where he won three times in 2007 and the 2010 Italian PGA Championship.

A hot favourite is obviously the 2016 Kenya Open winner Sebastian Soderberg who took home the bronze elephant trophy. In 2016, the Kenya Open was played at Karen so he will be returning to a familiar winning ground.

Soderberg loves tough long cases and is based at the picturesque Black Mountain Golf course in Hua Hin, Thailand.

The lush green course is carved out of a reclaimed stone quarry on the sides of the mountain, has water strategically placed in play on every hole, is very long and is located at the coast plays to the full length in the local hot humid weather.

It is the toughest and most unforgiving course I have ever played. Soderberg has two other wins on the Challenge Tour, but none on the European Tour.

Another Kenya Open winner at Karen is South African Hayden Porteous who won in 2015.

He also won the Joburg Open the following year. His other professional win was the Investec Championship on the Sunshine Tour in 2016.

One man to watch out for is Dane Thomas Bjorn, one of the only two men who have snatched an almost guaranteed win from the Tiger’s jaws (pardon the pun).

This happened in 2001 during a season when the stripped Leo was so indomitable that every time he entered a competition, the other Pros folded with the knowledge that they were fighting for second place.

Bjorn was paired with Woods for all four rounds and incredibly matched Tiger almost shot-for-shot as the pair dominated the leaderboard throughout the four days. By the close of play Saturday, Woods was atop the heap, one stroke ahead of Bjorn.

The golfing world held its breath that Sunday as Bjorn turned tables and beat Tiger by two strokes with a then-course record of 22-under-par.

Bjorn has won 15 times on the European Tour, including the 2014 Nedbank Open at Sun City in South Africa beating Sergio Garcia. He has tied for second and fourth at The Open and also tied for second at the US PGA, and was eight at the Masters.

His most recent fame came from captaining the European team into winning the 2018 Ryder Cup.

But nobody is getting anything served on a silver platter. Not with India’s Shubhankar Sharma around.

Sharma won the 2017 Joburg Open with three strokes, which qualified him for the 2018 Open Championship and also earned him a European Tour card. In February 2018, he won the Maybank Championship in Malaysia.

His meteoric rise earned him the European Tour’s rookie of the year award. He has been busy with his newfound tour status and will no doubt be gunning for the Kenya Open Title as he guns to win the Maybank next week.

The Italians seem to love the Kenya Open, with Gagli and Molinari having won in the recent past.

Attempting to join their list is former teenage sensation Matteo Manaserro, who holds the record as the youngest winner on the European Tour.

He won four European Tour events in four consecutive years from 2010 to 2013.

The South Africans are always serious contenders at the Kenya Open.

This year it is Erik Van Rooyen and George Coetzee who have been making big waves at the Gulf swing. Both tied for second at the Qatar Masters last Sunday. Coetzee is a four-time winner on the European Tour and nine-time winner on the Sunshine Tour.

Sneaking in at the last moment was Justin Harding who secured his maiden tour win at the Qatar Masters on Sunday.

How about Pros from East Africa? One of the most untold stories about Thomas Bjorn’s win and beating Tiger in 2001 at Dubai was that he was a Dubai Resident then. Home advantage and support is clearly not just a cliché.

Who knows, maybe this is the year Greg Snow makes Kenya Proud. Ugandan Kasozi, now playing on the Sunshine Tour, shall be giving our boys a run for their money.

I wish a sponsor could set-up a separate bonus payment for the best performing East Africans.

My attention shall also be on the six Kenya Amateurs.

This will be a great learning experience for them. I am disappointed that those two amazing amateurs from Tanzania, Victor Joseph and Amani Saidi are not on the draw.

Victor won the Muthaiga Open last year, beating a good number of our own Pros.

As the leader in golf in the East Africa region, KOGL needs to think about growing the game in the East Africa region. I see two slots for Invitation going to waste. Why they were not offered to Uganda’s Ronald Rugumayo and last year’s entrant long-driving Nuru Mollel from Arusha?

Here is to a great week of golf at Karen.

Tickets are already on sale online.

To watch Choi in his element, station yourself at the tee of a hole which requires a draw on the tee shot.

Those drawn to play with him at the Pro-Am, please try as much possible not to laugh! And for heaven’s sake, do not try to copy his swing! Beware the ides of March.