Victory for local pros as Kenya Open organisers concede to demands

Kenyan professionals have successfully secured more slots at the Magical Kenya Open (MKO) Golf Championship, set to take place next Thursday at Muthaiga Golf Club.

Kenyan professionals will now have 13 slots at the MKO after getting an additional five slots while the regional professionals will get three slots.

The MKO Local Organising Committee (LOC) was forced to grant the professionals their demand for 16 slots after they threatened legal action and a potential boycott.

Concerned by the escalating dispute, the government intervened, pushing for an immediate resolution to the professionals' grievances.

The breakthrough came during an impromptu Zoom meeting on Thursday evening, attended by officials from the European Tour—also known as the DP World Tour—along with representatives from the MKO LOC, Kenya Golf Union (KGU), Kenya Golf Federation (KGF), and Professional Golfers of Kenya (PGK).

As a result, a planned Friday morning meeting at Muthaiga Golf Club was cancelled, having been rendered unnecessary by the resolution reached during the virtual discussions. Additionally, the MKO pre-qualifying round—originally set to select three regional players—has also been scrapped.

Key resolutions from the meeting included drafting an agreement to be signed by all parties for this year’s event and making the contract between MKO organizers and the DP World Tour public.

Furthermore, a new contract will be prepared for next year’s tournament, ensuring that PGK is fully involved in all MKO engagements moving forward.

“All is well... we are happy that they finally found sense in what we had requested. We shouldn't have reached this far if people were honest in their undertaking,” said PGK Secretary General Robinson Owiti, who attended the Zoom meeting as part of the federation’s board.

"We agreed that all parties, including PGK, will be part and parcel of any future MKO contracts with DP World Tour," Owiti added.

MKO LOC chairman Patrick Obath confirmed that a joint communiqué would be issued on Friday morning following the resolution of the issues.

Initially, Obath had conceded to allocating two additional slots on Wednesday after the professionals threatened legal action. However, PGK rejected the offer, insisting on the full 16 slots or pursuing legal recourse.

Obath maintained that the DP World Tour had initially allocated six slots for local professionals, with two additional slots granted upon request. The professionals, however, countered this claim, citing a contract between the DP World Tour and MKO that, they said, allowed for 16 professionals and six amateurs.

When the professionals presented part of the contract as evidence, Obath dismissed it, stating it was not the final agreement but rather a draft under discussion for next year’s contract renewal.

He further declined to share the original document, arguing it was private and could only be disclosed by the DP World Tour.

The professionals, however, refuted this position, insisting that the MKO is a public event and all related agreements should be made transparent.

MKO was part of the European Challenge Tour until 2019 when it was elevated to the elite European Tour under the leadership of then-President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Since then, the prize money doubled from Sh57 million to Sh125.4 million. This year’s prize purse is $2.5 million (Sh320 million)