Dismas Indiza wins Karen's Safari Tour leg

Mumias-based Dismas Indiza on Wednesday won a tense final round of the Safari Tour ninth leg at Karen Country Club course.

Indiza, who had slipped on Tuesday to allow Zimbabwe’s Robson Chinhoi to take the lead after a brilliant round of six under par 66 which gave him a three rounds total of 12 under par 201, eventually steadied his game Wednesday to clinch the leg.

Indiza won a sudden death play-off after tying in the three-hole play-off  to clinch the final leg and Sh375,000.

Before the play off, Indiza and Chinhoi had tied with a tournament score of 14 under par 270, with Indiza having fired five under par 66 in the final round where Chinhoi shot two under par 69.

For the long hitter Indiza, it was his birdie at the 17th hole to tie with Chinhoi, which brought him back to the hunt for the top prize as the Zimbabwean parred the hole and at the 18th for the two to go to the three hole play-off.

Earlier, Indiza had birdied the second, sixth, seventh, 11th and the 12th, despite dropping the shot at the 14th his last birdie (17th) made all the difference.

“I was not really worried about winning or losing this event. My aim was to get the pace for the Magical Kenya Open, and after the four rounds, I think I am ready for the Open," said Indiza after the play-off.

Chinhoi said playing in the Safari Tour had changed his game altogether and that he was also ready with the Magical Kenya Open.

“I am hitting the ball very well though today’s game was not just an ordinary round. I felt a bit of pressure which is very normal in this game, but when all said and done, I am still very happy with my performance. I am also happy with Indiza who is a very experience player and he played well throughout the week but more or so today," said Chinhoi.

But back to the first three holes of play off, Chinhoi drove to the uppron on the usual 10th hole at Karen, chipped well to birdie the hole with Indiza getting a par.

The two then parred the second hole, but Indiza drove onto the green in the third hole where he won the hole with a par as Chinhoi chipped shot of the par to drop a shot, hence the sudden death hole where Indiza chipped from the left of the green to about a foot, while the Zimbabwe missed, concede the hole, giving Indiza his much needed victory after losing in another play off at Muthaiga Golf Club two weeks ago.

While Indiza took top prize plus 75 points towards the Order of Merit, Chinhoi, a winner of three Safari Tour events including the Uganda Open, pocketed Sh250,000 and 71 points in the Order of Merit.

Meanwhile, Thika Sports Club’s Simon Ngige shot one under par 70 to finish third with an all rounds total of eight under par 276.

In his round, Ngige made four birdies and dropped two shots for the day. In fourth place was Nigeria’s Andrew Odoh who also shot one under par 70 for a total of five under par 279.

Odoh got 64 points which pushed him to second place among the foreign players in the Order of Merit, hence qualified for the Magical Kenya Open along with Chinhoi.

The third slot among the foreign players is likely to go one of the two Ugandas Deo Akope or Philip Kasozi.

The final leader board;

Dismas Indiza 67, 69, 65, 66= 270 *

Robson Chinhoi (Zim) 67, 69, 65, 69= 270

Simon Ngige 69, 71, 66, 70= 276

Andrew Odoh (Nig) 66, 70, 73, 70= 279

Visitor Mapwanya(Zim) 68, 73, 70, 69= 280

David Wakhu 69, 72, 72, 70= 283

John Wangai 68, 72, 69, 76=285

Riz Charania 69, 73, 71, 73= 286