South African Roos labours to one-shot win as Snow the top Kenyan
PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO President Uhuru Kenyatta hands a dummy cheque for 32,000 Euros (about Sh3.8 million) to 2014 Barclays Kenya Open champion Jake Roos of South Africa at the Karen Golf and Country Club on March 9, 2014. Left is the Barclays Bank of Kenya chairman Francis Okello.
What you need to know:
- Denmark’s Jensen, Frenchman Bernadet and Spaniard Oriol finish just a shot behind the champion to tie in second place as curtains come down on tournament.
- He started by making a birdie at the second hole and later at the eighth after dropping one at the third.
- Leading that group was England’s Steven Brown who jumped from three under par at the start to finish on seven under after an impressive round of four under par 68.
South African Jake Roos beat three others by the narrow margin of one shot to clinch the 2014 Barclays Kenya Open Golf title at the par-72 Karen Country Club course on Sunday.
The Pretoria-born Roos shot two under par 70 in the final round despite bogeying two holes for a total of 10 under par 278 to take home the winner’s cheque of 32,000 Euro and a chance to play in more European Challenge Tour events in addition to his home Sunshine Tour.
“It was up and down round, a very tough day, but I feel blessed winning here. I love Kenya, its great playing here,’’ said Roos who played in a number of Kenya Open events but at Muthaiga. “This was my first time playing on this course which I found very tough, especially the greens which were as hard as a cricket pitch,” said the winner of six Sunshine Tour tournaments.
MADE A BIRDIE
He started by making a birdie at the second hole and later at the eighth after dropping one at the third.
“I was hitting the ball nicely though I made some few bad ones, especially at the third and 16th holes,” added Roos, who also birdied the 14th and 15th. He missed a birdie narrowly at the last green. A big crowd, including President Uhuru Kenyatta, turned out to watch the final round.
Roos said his win may be a stepping stone to the big European Tour depending how he fares in the remaining part of the season. Finishing just a shot behind the new Kenya Open champion were Denmark’s Lasee Jensen, Frenchman Adrien Bernadet and Pedro Oriol from Spain who tied in second. Oriol was Roos’s playing partner in the final round.
Jensen, who started the day on seven under par, birdied the first, third, 13th and 15th and dropped shots on the fifth, and 16th greens for two under par 70 and a total of 279 while also firing two under par 70 was Bernadet who at one time was leading on 11 under par he bogeyed the 17th after picking up birdies on the second, eighth, 12th and 13th.
Oriol shot one under par 71 to also wind up on 279. Five others tied in fifth place on seven under par 281.
Leading that group was England’s Steven Brown who jumped from three under par at the start to finish on seven under after an impressive round of four under par 68.
The others also on 281 were Dodge Krammer from America also on 68, Thomas Linard from France who shot three under 69, Sweden’s Portius Wedegren on 71 and South African Dannie Van Tonder on level par 72.
These were a shot better than the group of Kenya’s Greg Snow who tied for 10th place in six under par 282. A total of 68 players had made the second round cut in this year’s Open which kicked off the 2014 Challenge Tour series.
