STARS CONFIRM PARTICIPATION AT MAGICAL KENYA OPEN GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
Barclays Bank of Kenya Managing Director Jeremy Awori hands over a cheque to Kenya Open Golf Limited chairperson Peter Kanyago today.
By DANIELLA APIYO AND AMANDA DAMARIS
Last year’s Ryder Cup winning captain Thomas Bjorn headlines the star attractions that have been confirmed for the March 14-18 Magical Kenya Open which is making its debut as a European Tour event.
The 47 year old is the most successful Danish golfer to have played the game having won 15 tournaments worldwide on the European Tour. He captained the winning European side at the 2018 Ryder Cup.
Bjorn, who was elected chairman of the European Tour’s tournament committee in 2007, started his golfing career in 1993. In 1995 he won four tournaments on the Challenge Tour to earn his card for his debut year on the European Tour in 1996. Bjørn made his breakthrough immediately winning his maiden tour title in his debut season at the Loch Lomond World Invitational.
The Danish will be joined on the list by 22-year old Indian pro golfer Shubhankar Sharma who recorded his first tour win in the Joburg Open in December 2017. He then followed this with a second win at the Maybank Championship in February 2018, a win that earned him full membership of the European Tour.
South Africa’s Haydn Porteous will also make a return to Kenya for another shot at the title that he won in 2015 when the Open was still a Challenge Tour event. In January 2016, Porteous won his maiden European Tour title with a two-stroke victory at the Joburg Open which is a co-sanctioned event with the Sunshine Tour.
Meanwhile, former title sponsors Barclays Bank (Absa Group Limited) pumped in Sh 220 million in the Open over the next two years. The money will be split between operational costs of the event, with Sh150 million injected into the tournament while the remaining Sh70 million will be used to further amplify the profile of the event.
“For the past eight years, working with the Kenya Open Golf Limited, we have grown the stature of this tournament and turned it into an asset not only for the golfing fraternity, but for the country,” Barclays Bank of Kenya Managing Director Jeremy Awori said.