South African Justin Harding wins Kenya Open

South African Justin Harding beat America’s Kurt Kitayama by two shots to clinch the 2021 Magical Kenya Open presented by Johnnie Walker at the par 71 Karen Country Club course on Sunday.

The Stellenbosch based Harding, who is now in the 15th place in the “Race to Dubai", more or less won the title at the short par four-ninth, usually the 12th hole at Karen, where he drove to about 10 feet for his eagle two.

From there, he played rather conservatively, picking pars all the way to the 17th where he birdied from four feet to go 21 under par with a hole to play. He hit to the centre of the fairway at the 18th, fired to about 15 feet.

He missed a birdie narrowly for an easy par, which he really needed for the day’s five under par 66, and a second European Tour victory, having won the 2019 Commercial Bank of Qatar Masters.

Before his eagle two at the ninth, Harding, born on February 9, 1985, and turned professional in 2010 then playing off Plus Six, and a winner of seven tournaments in the Sunshine Tour, had made two birdies at the sixth and seventh holes. 

“It was a lot easier winning in 2019! I’m very emotional now. It was hard work, I’m happy with the way I played. Kurt’s a hell of a competitor – I got him back for Mauritius – but I’m glad I went one shot better than a couple of years ago, I was bummed about that, but I was just happy with the way I managed my game. 

“I wasn’t feeling too good after 12. I made a mess of 11 and 12 and ultimately, the way I played 13 to 18 this week, it was a bit of a stressful time. I executed some shots, managed to make a couple of good par saves and I couldn’t lay back on 17 because I knew Kurt just bombs it so I had to go for it there and I was ultimately just pleased to execute golf shots. 

“Leah, my girlfriend, is probably stressed out because she hasn’t experienced this before, my mum is probably having a hard time, my dad as well, Alan has been on the bag for a long time as well, it’s just nice to be back in the winner’s circle," said Harding, who tied for second place with fellow South African Louis De Jeger in the 2019 Magical Kenya Open.

Besides some points towards the “Race to Dubai’’, Harding pocketed 145, 500 Euro (about Sh18,915,000). He received the Magical Kenya Open trophy from President Uhuru Kenyatta. 

On the other hand, American Kurt Kitayama had two eagled two holes, the first on the sixth and later at the 12th. He however dropped a shot at the 11th which more or less cost him a chance for a possible victory.

"It was tough to catch him. Obviously I couldn’t, but I think I gave it a pretty good effort. I felt like sometimes when I was going to slip away, I chipped in for eagle on 12, that was big, but overall I’m happy with how I fought I’m happy with the result.

"You just have to stick to your game plan. I was hitting my irons well and I just trusted that and down the stretch I just didn’t give myself too many good looks," said Kitayama, who like Harding also shot five under par 66 to finish in 19 under par 265.

He took home 94,500 Euro plus some points towards the “Race to Dubai’’ where he is placed in 13th place with a chance to improve his placing depending on how he performs in the Kenya Savannah Classic.

Finishing in third place on 17 under par 267 after an impressive 64 in the final round was Scorland’s Connor Syme, who made five birdies at the front nine, and four at the back nine, though two bogeys both at the back nine denied him a chance of winning the event.

“I came here a couple of years ago as well and really, really enjoyed the golf course and it was one I was looking forward to coming back to play. I played lovely, to be honest and it was nice to finish off a good week with a strong finish. 

“We’ve got one day off and then back on it, but it’s been fun to play the golf course and I’m looking forward to getting back on it. It’s one of those courses you don’t really tire of playing. You can play it so many different ways and it should be a fun week again. 

“I’ve been working really, really hard over the last four weeks with my dad Stuart at home on my putting. Phil Kenyon’s been helping me out a bit as well as Mike at my dad’s range so I’m chuffed to see that come to fruition today. 64 on a Sunday is probably one of my lowest finishes to a tournament. It bodes well for next week. 

“It’s probably more fades off tees around corners, but a hole like this, at ten, where you can hit a draw and go for the green, there are a lot of fun holes. It will be interesting to see how they set it up, it might be a little different next week, but either way it will be a fun week. 

“It’s challenging at altitude to be honest. My caddie Ryan did a good job this week in getting my numbers down and a real trick of this golf course is how far the ball goes," said Syme.

It was also a great finish for Spain’s Sebastian Sergio Rodriguez, who finished with a 63 in the final round, for an all rounds total of 17 under par 268 to finish on his own with 16 under par 268.

Meanwhile, the only surviving Kenyan in the tournament, Samuel Njoroge, shot one under par 70 to finish on level par 284. The score was not good enough though to give him a decent finishing, though he still has a good chance of doing better in the Kenya Savannah Classic. He earned himself Sh293,410.

A total of 13 professionals and six amateurs had qualified to play in the Magical Kenya Open where they were expected to perform better, particularly after their sterling performance in the local Safari Tour.

The leader board;

Justin Harding (RSA) 66, 67, 64, 66= 263
Kurt Kitayama (USA) 67, 66, 66, 66= 265
Cannor Syme (Sco) 65, 67, 71, 64= 267
Sebastian Garcia-Rodriguez (Spa) 67, 70, 68, 63= 268
Jacques Kruyswijk (RSA) 68, 72, 65, 64= 269
Romain Langasque (Fra) 67, 70, 67, 65= 269
Jean Batiste- Gonnet(Fra) 68, 68, 66, 67= 269