Romain Langasque is hoping that his form at Karen Country Club will culminate in a second European Tour victory at this week’s Kenya Savannah Classic presented by Absa, which tees off on Tuesday and marks the second consecutive event at the picturesque Nairobi venue.
The Frenchman enjoyed his best round of the week on Sunday at the Magical Kenya Open presented by Johnnie Walker as a six under 65 earned him a top five finish.
That added to an impressive record at Karen Country Club - Langasque already boasted a runner-up finish there on the Challenge Tour in 2016 and a tied sixth finish on the European Tour in 2019. Incidentally, on all three occasions he has carded 65 in the final round.
“This is a place where I feel really good,” said Langasque. “I finished second here on the Challenge Tour, I think I finished sixth two years ago too, and it’s a course that really suits my game. I play really offensively here and I feel really good out on that course and I enjoy being here.”
The 25-year-old has another good omen on his side – his maiden European Tour victory came in the second of back-to-back events on the same golf course, at the ISPS HANDA Wales Open at Celtic Manor last August.
“It was a really good idea from the European Tour to put back-to-back events on again because of the situation we have at the moment,” he said. “I’m really happy to be playing here again because it’s a course where I feel really good, I love the shape of the course, the greens, and everything is good. I feel really happy to be here and I look forward to have a good week again next week.”
The winner of the first event of the aforementioned Celtic Manor double-header was Sam Horsfield, whose first appearance of the 2021 Race to Dubai yielded a tied eighth place finish at last week’s Magical Kenya Open. The Englishman enjoyed his first experience of Nairobi and a final round 65 means he enters the Kenya Savannah Classic full of confidence.
“It’s only one day in between the two events and I’ve never actually done that so it’s going to be pretty interesting,” said Horsfield. “I’m going to take Monday off and give myself a little breather. I had a pretty long travel day getting here and last night was actually the first night I got over the jet lag. I’ve been sleeping for three or four hours a night.
“The more you play a golf course, the more comfortable you’ll get with certain shots so I think you’ll get a lot of good scoring next week with the guys getting comfortable and knowing where to miss it and where not to miss it.
“I played more aggressively on the weekend than I did the first two days. I sort of got myself into the round and took it slowly the first two days and then today and yesterday I was more aggressive. I’ll hopefully be able to pull off some of the shots I pulled off today next week, play more aggressive and see where it ends up.”
