Local favourite Mutahi Kibugu savoured a “surreal” week at the Magical Kenya Open Presented by Absa - and bragging rights over his brother.
Kibugu’s closing 73 left him one under par for the tournament at Muthaiga Golf Club, where he enjoyed passionate support throughout the week.
The 22-year-old, playing in his first DP World Tour event as a professional, provided the highlight of day two with a long birdie putt at the 18th hole to make the cut and admitted he would be “watching that for 50 years”.
He repeated that closing four, albeit from shorter range, on Sunday to finish under par, having dropped three shots earlier on his back nine.
"A week in his life Mutahi Kibugu will never forget." 🇰🇪#MagicalKenyaOpen pic.twitter.com/rmZOUUHmEy
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) March 12, 2023
“I just have one word to describe it - surreal,” he said.
“All the attention I got, all the support I got was just amazing. I can’t thank everyone enough for what they’ve done this week.
“I’m pretty pleased with how I played over the four days. I didn’t have my best stuff the last three, round two and three I managed to put together a score.
"Today I just let it go early on the back nine. But I finished strong, have my chin up and I’m pleased with my performance.”
His younger sibling Njoroge, a 19-year-old amateur, was the only Kenyan player to make the cut at last year’s event.
He missed out at two over par this time around as that honour passed to Mutahi and, when it was mentioned that he beat his brother, he replied: “Yes I did.
“I’m going to go back home, look him in the eye and tell him ‘do better next year, bro’.
“I’m going to take all the positives out of this week, head back down to (South Africa), try to pre-(qualify) for some events. Just play more tournaments and keep going.”
