The Magical Kenya Open celebrates its sixth edition this week since it joined the DP World Tour calendar in 2019 (it was not played in 2020 due to the pandemic). In the previous five editions, there has always been a notable presence of a Spanish player in the fight for victory, including, of course, Jorge Campillo‘s win in 2023 at the Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi, the same venue where the Kenyan Open is played starting Thursday.
– In 2019, we had Adri Arnaus battling neck and neck for victory with Guido Migliozzi, with the Italian winning and the Spaniard finishing second (at the Karen Country Club).
– In 2021, Sebas García was also among the contenders for victory, finishing in fourth place. (At the Karen Country Club, also in Nairobi).
– In 2022, already at the Muthaiga Golf Club, Jorge Campillo and Sebas García were in the featured groups on Sunday, although they did not have a good final round.
– In 2023, Campillo won, while Santi Tarrio finished third and Borja Virto fifth.
– In 2024, Nacho Elvira and Adrián Otaegui finished in second place, and Manu Elvira, who had started as co-leader on Sunday, finished fourth.
Seve Ballesteros and José María Cañizares also won this Open at Muthaiga when it was not part of the European circuit, as did Jordi García Pinto in 2013 at the Karen Country Club, when it was a Challenge Tour event. But there’s no need to go that far back, as you can see, to realise that Spanish golf and Nairobi blend seamlessly on those courses over 1,500 metres above sea level.
It doesn’t seem bold to raise the expectations of the Armada this week to the highest level: the goal of the thirteen Spanish players present at the event can only be victory in a tournament where, moreover, there isn’t a single top 100 player in the world.
Jorge Campillo, having already won on this course, carries the flag. The Extremaduran is also the second-best player in the event according to the world ranking (113th), only behind John Parry (110th). The other twelve are: Ángel Hidalgo, Nacho Elvira, Manu Elvira, Alfredo García Heredia, Iván Cantero, Ángel Ayora, Joel Moscatel, Albert Boneta, Santi Tarrio, Adri Arnaus, Sebas García, and Eugenio Chacarra, who plays with an invitation.
It is a good opportunity for those who will not have many opportunities this year on the DP World Tour. In fact, there is a group of six players whose second objective is to get into the final top ten to earn a place in next week’s South African Open: Moscatel, Boneta, Tarrio, Arnaus, Sebas, and Chacarra.
