PGK hosts qualifier to select five more local pros for Kenya Open

Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) will hold a qualifier on Monday to pick five more players for the Magical Kenya Open (MKO) Golf Championship starting Thursday at the Muthaiga Golf Club.

PGK chairman Charles James Wangai disclosed that the PGK board has decided to stage the one-day 18-hole contest at the Windsor Golf and Country Club starting at 8am following a meeting Sunday.

Wangai revealed that members felt that the previous qualifier was for the eight slots that had initially been offered by the MKO organisers hence thought it wise to hold a new one to select the additional five.

Wangai said that four out of six board members voted to have a second qualifier while two didn’t, and already, 28 players had registered for the qualifier as of Sunday.

“We shall go by the wishes of many,” said Wangai, adding that some members wanted the results from the previous qualifier used with those finishing ninth to 13th being given the additional slots.

“I think for fairness to prevail, we thought it wise to have the qualifier since the previous one targeted eight slots while we have five new slots,” explained Wangai, adding that another qualifier to pick three regional golfers will be held concurrently at Vet Lab Sports Club.

Eight players were picked after a 72-hole qualifier that was held at Muthaiga Golf Club on January 27 to 28 and Sigona Club on January 30 to 31.

They are Njoroge Kibugu, Greg Snow, David Wakhu, Samuel Njoroge, Dismas Indiza, Mohit Mediratta, Rizwani Charania and Edwin Mudanyi.

Kenyan professionals won the battle to have five more slots at MKO last Thursday after threatening legal action against MKO Local Organising Committee (LOC) for denying them the slots.

Their wish was granted after an impromptu zoom meeting that was attended by officials from European Tour that is also known as the DP Tour, MKO LOC, Kenya Golf Union (KGU), Kenya Golf Federation (KGF) and PGK.

MKO LOC chairman Patrick Obath and Wangai issued a joint communiqué that partially revealed the status of the agreement between MKO and DP World Tour.

 It was clear that MKO and DP World Tour had agreed on an allocation of 22 slots for the regional golfers hence annulling the previous information that the DP World Tour had only given eight slots.

“We are happy to announce that this year’s Magical Kenya Open has created five more spots to the Kenyan Professional Golfers, in so doing exhausting all the agreed invitations (22) available to the region as agreed with the DP World Tour.

“This has taken place after rigorous consultations and discussions whereby the LOC considered the appeal from the Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK) Board to ensure greater representation of Kenyan professional golfers in the game,” said the communiqué in part.

The statement emphasised that the MKO does not exclude any players based on prejudice or bias.

“Our selection process is competitive and transparent, guided by the standards, rules, and principles established by our partners, DP World Tour,” said the statement, adding that these guidelines meant that those who qualify for the tournament meet the required merits and cut-offs.

A total of 150 players from over 30 countries will participate in this year's tournament.

With the exception of 1994, MKO had been part of the European Challenge Tour until 2019 when it was elevated to elite European Tour event thanks to then President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The event’s prize money was doubled from 500,000 Euros (Sh57m) to 1.1m Euros (Sh 125.4m), the prize money that has been sustained or improved over the years with the 2024 drawing US$ 2.5m (Sh330m), a purse that has been upheld for this year.