Lorenzo Gagli wins Kenya Open

Italian professional Lorenzo Gagli on Sunday claimed the 2018 Barclays Kenya Open golf title in a dramatic finish at the par 71 Muthaiga Golf Club course.

Starting the final round on eight under par, the Italian beat Sweden’s Jens Fahrbring in the third hole of a sudden death play-off to clinch the top of prize of Sh10 million.

Gagli, who dropped only one shot in the closing round, had birdied four holes, two in the first nine and two at the back nine for three under par 68, for a total of 11 under par 273.

On the other hand, Fahrbring shot four under par 67 to also wind up the tournament on 11 under par, hence the play-off held at the par three-13th, where a Mercedes Benz worth Sh11 million was on offer for a hole-in-one.

In the first and second holes of the play-off, both players parred the hole. However, during the third hole, Gagli fired the centre of the green, while Fahrbring hit his shot to the water for a bogey, while Gagli parred to claim his first tour victory and a strong foundation for the subsequent events in the 2018 “Road to Oman’’.

Fahrbring had birdied the first, sixth, 10th, 14th and the 18th holes. Like Gagli, Fahrbring had also bogeyed one hole during the final round, which attracted a huge crowd among them President Uhuru Kenyatta and Nasa leader Raila Odinga.

“I am very excited winning here. This is a great event and very well organised and the course was great and I really thank the organisers and all those who were involved. It will be so great if the prize money will be doubled next year’’ said Gagli.

But what a bad round it was for 2016 champion Sebastian Soderberg from Sweden, who was hoping for a historic victory.

He started at the top of the leaderboard on 12 under par and made two birdies at the third and seventh holes, having bogeyed the fourth to cross to the back nine on 13 under par.

He however, threw away all that he had gained after dropping two successive shots at the 12th and 13th. As if that was not enough, Soderberg picked up a double bogey at the 14th and a single one at the 16th.

Though he finished with a birdie at the 18th, his three over par 74 could only give him a total of nine under par 275 to tie for sixth place with South Africa’s Oliver Bekker, who shot two under 69.

However, above Soderberg on 10 under par 274 were Philip Mejow from Germany, Chile’s Nico Geyger and Finland’s Kalle Samooja.

Mejow played with Soderberg and another German Max Schmitt, fired level par 71.

He made birdies on the first, fourth, fifth and 10th, but threw away all that after double-bogeying seventh, having earlier dropped a shot at the par four-sixth at the ninth for 10 under par 274.

The three took Sh3.7 million each, while the second-placed Fahrbring went home with Sh6.2million.

Of the two local players, Riz Charania shot another 74 to finish on six over par 290 in 69th place and Mohit Mediratta also carded 74 for eight over par 292 in 71st position to win Sh124,000 plus another Sh100,000 bonus from the Kenya Open Golf Limited, for making the cut.

Charania walked away with Sh 134,000 and the KOGL bonus. The two were also rewarded with a further with Sh249,000 each by Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko.

A total of 73 players had made cut from the field of 156 players including six amateurs.

The final leader board;

Lorenzo Gagli(Ita) 68, 68, 69, 68= 273 *

Jens Fahrbring(swe) 72, 70, 64, 67= 273

Philip Mejow(Ger) 67, 72, 64, 71- 274

Nico Geyger(Chi) 69, 68, 68, 69= 274

Kalle Samooja(Fin) 71, 70, 65, 68= 274

Sebastian Soderberg(Swe) 70, 65, 66, 74= 275

Oliver Bekker(SA) 74, 69, 63, 69= 275

Victor Riu(fra) 68, 70, 73, 65= 276

Trevor Fisher(SA) 70, 71, 66, 69= 276

Anton Karlsson(Swe) 67, 69, 72, 68= 276

Matthias Schwab(Aut) 76, 66, 65, 69= 276

Max Orrin(Eng) 65, 71, 69, 71= 276

Laurie Canter(Eng) 69, 68, 70, 69= 276.