The Magical Kenya Open 2023 gets underway this week at Muthaiga Golf Club. A total of 150 professional players will be battling for Kshs 256 million prize money. The Magical Kenya Open is the 13th event on the DP World Tour calendar which features 39 events in 26 countries.
T-OFF News looks at the visiting players’ prospects based on their current form in the DP Tour Race to Dubai series. France’s Victor Perez is currently in the lead with Rory McIlroy following closely in second.
Marcel Siem
The 42-year-old German is the highest ranked player in the field in the Race to Dubai order of merit. He’s currently in the eighth position after winning the Hero India Open. Siem seems to have hit form at the right time after a four-year absence from the Tour. He finished in position T17 twice- Thailand Classic and Singapore classic. Though ranked 256th in the World Golf Ranking (OWGR), a victory in Nairobi will see him shoot up the standings besides collecting the precious points on offer. He already has five victories on the DP World Tour.
Antoine Rozner
Rozner is no stranger at Muthaiga having finished T34 in last year’s event. The 30-year old Frenchman is currently ranked 12th on the Tour and has three career wins. He won the Afr Asia Mauritius Open in December 2022 and has another two top 10 finishes this season- T5 and T6 Thailand Classic and Singapore Classic. Antoine is in position 138 in the OWGR.
Julien Brun
Though he is yet to register a single victory on the DP World Tour, the Frenchman is currently ranked 14th on the DP World Tour. Brun has already managed three top 20 finishes this season. He finished third in Mauritius, fifth at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and T12 at Singapore Classic. Though ranked a lowly position 204 in the OWGR, the 30 year-old will be going for his maiden win in Nairobi.
Adrian Otaegui
The Spaniard is currently ranked 82nd in the OWGR and 18th on the DP World Tour. Otaegui has three top 30 finishes in his last starts this year. He will be chasing a fifth title on the Tour.
Ashun Wu
The defending champion will be returning to Kenya hoping to become only the second player, after Maurice Bembridge in 1969, to retain the trophy. Since winning at Muthaiga, Wu has endured a trophy drought but has remained consistent on the Tour. With three top 20 finishes this season in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Singapore, Wu is currently ranked 32nd on the Tour and 207th in the OWGR. The 37-year-old, the most successful Chinese player on the Tour, has made the cut in six out of seven starts this season.
Rafa Cabrera Bello
The immensely experienced Spaniard has been in fine form this year registering three top 20 finishes in Abu Dhabi, Thailand and at the Ras Al Khaimah Classic. The 39-year-old played for Team Europe in the Ryder Cup in 2016 and has four career wins on the Tour.
Other notable names on the entry list include Robert Macintyre, Adri Arnaus, Maximilan Kieffer, Jorge Campillo, Shubhankar Sharma and last year’s runner-up Ewen Fergusson.
