Kenyan legendary golfer Jacob Okello has asked the Kenya Open Golf Limited (KOGL) and Professional Golfers of Kenya (PKG) to use merit from the two-legged MKO qualifiers to select the professional golfers who will play in the Magical Kenya Open set for next week.
This request follows KOGL’s decision to increase the number of slots for Kenyan professionals in the DP World Tour event after pressure was mounted.
“With the increased slots, our request to KOGL and PGK is that they should use the results from the just-ended MKO qualifiers we played at Muthaiga and Sigona golf clubs to decide who plays at the Magical Kenya Open,” Okello said.
Initially, only eight Kenyan professional golfers were selected from the qualifiers held at Muthaiga and Sigona Golf clubs to play at the MKO. However, after Kenya Professional Golfers (KPG) threatened legal action and a potential boycott over the few slots, the Ministry of Sports and the MKO local organizing committee created five additional slots for Kenyan professional golfers, exhausting all the 22 invitations available to the region as agreed with the DP World Tour.
In a joint statement sent to newsrooms on Friday evening, it was stated: “We emphasize that the Magical Kenya Open 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.
These guidelines mean that those who qualify for the tournament meet the required merits and cut-offs, ensuring that the field quality remains at a high level, which is a priority for all parties.”
With the increased slots, Jacob Okello, the first Kenyan to ever play in the final of the Kenya Open in 1998 (losing to Ricardo Gonzalez of Argentina in a playoff), becomes the first professional golfer to be included in the list for the 2025 Magical Kenya Open, after missing the initial cut by one shot. He will be joined by Sujan Shah, Isaiah Otuke, Simon Ngige, and Jeff Kubwa.
The players who had qualified from the first two rounds include Njoroge Kibugu, Greg Snow, Samuel Njoroge, Dismas Indiza, Mohit Medirata, Riz Charania, and Edwin Mudanyi.
Amateurs who have qualified and will compete for glory in this year’s tournament are Michael Karanga (Kiambu), John Lejirma (Kenya Railway), William Odek (Nyali), Shashwat Harish (Junior Golf Foundation), and Michael Alunga (Uganda).
With the increased slots, the field will comprise 150 players from over 30 countries.
The total prize money for the tournament is US$2.5 million, the same as in 2024, with the winner taking home US$425,000.
The event will be televised globally, reaching nearly 600 million homes in over 150 countries. There will also be live coverage on local television, and the event will be covered locally by all major newspapers and many radio stations.
The Magical Kenya Open (MKO) 2025 is scheduled to take place from Thursday, February 20th to Sunday, February 23rd, 2025, at the Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi, Kenya.
– By Chris Migwambo
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