In a few hours, the 55th edition of the Kenya Open begins, which will be the fifth since this tournament belongs to the DP World Tour. This year, as is well known, the defending champion will not appear, who was none other than the Spaniard Jorge Campillo, ready to start this very week in Mexico the adventure on the PGA Tour. In any case, Spanish golf has at the Muthaiga Golf Club (Nairobi, Kenya) twelve players ready to pick up, why not, the baton from the Extremaduran and thus open the victory box of the Armada in the 2024 season of the European circuit. So far, in this sense, that fourth place of Pablo Larrazábal in the Dubai Desert Classic remains the best result of Spanish golf in the current exercise…
Beyond the desire or the history (four Spanish victories in the Kenya Open), there are reasons to think that the Armada could hunt in Nairobi the first triumph of the year. For example, it can be considered that in this event and on this course Santi Tarrio achieved the best result of his career on the European circuit, the third place he signed precisely twelve months ago, when Campillo won. The Galician, who was also third in the 2021 Hero Open, is present these weeks in African lands on a course where he feels very comfortable: he has played eight competition rounds at the Muthaiga (editions of 2022 and 23) and has never signed a card over par, seven of them being under par.
Thinking precisely about another player who can do very well on this course, the name of Adrián Otaegui appears immediately and, more specifically, that sublime performance of his in Valderrama. It’s not that they are twin courses, but they are of a similar typology. The Guipuzcoan, moreover, is the third favourite in the event according to the world ranking, only behind the Japanese Hoshino and the South African Lawrence. In addition, Adrian needs to really kick-start his season, in which so far his best performance has been that twentieth place in the Dubai Invitational. In this section, the one about courses that can suit certain players, we also note Ángel Hidalgo for this week.
On the other hand, if we stick to the successful edition of last year, we can highlight the leadership of Nacho Elvira after 36 holes, although the weekend did not go very well for him. And so, let’s say that the best result of his brother Manu in his debut season in the First division of European golf has been in African lands (12th in the Joburg), although the younger of the Elvira brothers is making his debut in Kenya.
On the other hand, one of the big dark horses can and should be Sebas García, whose good play to date has not yet broken into a great result, beyond his solid twelfth position in Bahrain. The Madrid player also has good memories of these parts and this country, although he stood out on the other course in Nairobi, the Karen. As for the other Madrid player present, Alex del Rey, let’s just say that so far he is the only Spanish player who can boast of having added two top tens this season on the European circuit, both also in African lands (he was 51st in the South Africa Open and 71st in the Alfred Dunhill).
All of them are going to have to deal with rather delicate playing conditions due to the wind, as long as the weather forecasts are confirmed, which speak of gusts of up to 40 kilometres per hour for Thursday and Friday, especially in the afternoon round of play. It will be rare, therefore, for the winning result to go to the -18 with which Campillo was proclaimed winner last year.
