Omuli fires first shot in fight for Kenya Open slots
Tony Omuli follows the progress of his tee shot from the 10th tee during the 2018 Kenya Open qualifiers on January 15, 2018 at Muthaiga Golf Club. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |
What you need to know:
- Tournament was the first in local pros’ qualifiers for the Barclays Kenya Open in March.
- After leading in opening two rounds, Golf Park player bounces back in decisive round at Muthaiga.
Golf Park’s Tony Omuli made a strong comeback in the final round to claim the first leg of the 2018 Kenya Open qualifying series at the par 71 Muthaiga Golf Club course on Thursday.
Omuli, who led in the first two rounds of the 72-hole event, fired one under par 70 in the closing round yesterday to beat Muthaiga’s Frank Matilo by four shots as round three leader David Wakhu dropped to third place after a poor 79.
Enroute to his victory, Omuli birdied the third and fourth at the front nine.
But he bogeyed three holes in a row from the fifth to the seventh for two over par first nine.
He, however, managed to get his act together at the back nine where he birdied the 12th, 14th and 17th for a low three under par 32 for the day’s 70 which saw him win with a total of seven over par 291.
SECOND LEG SERIES
Matilo fired three over par 74 in the final round to finish second with a total of 295 as Wakhu posted 79 in a round which saw him picking up only five pars.
“It was so bad and I have now discovered it’s my putter which is bad and will look for another one as soon as possible,” said Wakhu who tied in third place with another Muthaiga player Nicholas Rokoine who carded 74 to also wind up with a grand total of 296.
The two were just a shot better than Mathew Omondi of Vet and Jeff Kubwa.
Only 25 players turned for the final round out of the earlier 29 players who started on Monday.
The second leg of the series will take place at Sigona Golf Club from January 29 followed by the third event on February 12 to 15 at a venue to be named later.
The last event will be the Jamii Telkom PGK Masters at Sigona Golf Club from March 10 to 13 after the fourth at Royal Nairobi from February 26 to March 1.
The final leader board at Muthaiga:291 — Tony Omuli 69, 75, 77, 70295 — Frank Matilo 73, 75, 73, 74296 — Nicholas Rokoine 75, 70, 77, 74296 — David Wakhu 73, 73, 71, 79297 — Jeff Kubwa 76, 78, 71, 72297 — Mathew Omondi 76, 73, 71, 77298 — Riz Charania 80, 74, 71, 73299 — Erick Ooko 75, 76, 72, 76301 — Anil Shah 72, 76, 78, 75301 — Nelson Simwa 73, 72, 80, 76.
