Italian Migliozi wins Magical Kenya Open

Twenty-two-year old Italian professional golfer, Guido Migliozzi is the 2019 Magical Kenya Open winner. Migliozzi claimed the 2019 title after returning a score of 2-under par, 69 for round four to take his overall score to 16-under par 268.

For his efforts over the last four days of competition, Miglozzi pocketed a total of Euros 183,330 (Equivalent to over Sh20.5 Million).

The Italian started his campaign at the 2019 Magical Kenya Open with a score of 4-under par after round one, following it up with a 2-under par score on Friday to successfully make the CUT to play at the weekend. It was at round three that the Italian turned on the style with an impressive 7-under par score to give him a share of the lead going into the final round.

Playing in the last group of the day, Migliozzi went toe to toe with fellow day three leader Adri Arnaus as well as Louis De Jager, Justin Harding, Gaganjeet Bhullar and Kalle Samooja, who all had a taste of the lead in the course of a thrilling final day, at the Karen Country Club.

The Italian had a shaky start to his round, dropping his first shot at the par-3, 4th, following this up with back to back birdies at the 6th & 7th. A further dropped shot at the 9th however saw him return a front nine score of par,35 for a three way tie at the top of the leader board.

It was at the back nine, where the 22-year-old would prevail, starting off with a birdie on the par-4, 10th and another at the 12th to hold a one shot lead. At this point, the crowd and pressure was building up steadily, Miglozzi went on to show some steady nerves, to hold par in his last six holes to take the title.

Speaking after his round, Migliozzi expressed his joy in winning the tournament and relished the feeling of playing at the 2019 Magical Kenya Open.

“I enjoyed the last two days very much. The pressure was a lot and I’m happy about how I have played under pressure, also with my putting game that I worked a lot on. There was a lot of pressure on the course, obviously. After the birdie at the 12th I was leading but it was tough. I just kept patient towards the end, which was it,” he said.

Commenting on his round on the day, “I just kept patient through the day and my second shot on the 18th was a very nice shot.”

“Yesterday I went to the left at the 18th with a two iron, today I went with a four iron, just to be sure that I don’t go left and I had the perfect distance for an eight iron, it was really nice. Easy two putts to win,” he said.

He concluded by thanking his team members “I would like to thank every part of my team.”

Migliozzi follows in the footsteps of Major Champions Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam and Trevor Immelman in winning this tournament, and becomes the second consecutive Italian winner of the Kenya Open, after Lorenzo Gagli last year.

Adri Arnaus, alongside South African duo of Justin Harding and Louis De Jager had to settle for joint second, a shot behind Migliozzi, on a score of 15-under par, 269. India’s Bhullar Gaganjeet finished a further shot behind on 14-over for a fifth place finish.

Kenya’s Simon Ngige finished as the best placed Kenyan, after playing a round of 2-under par on the day to take his total to 5-under par, 279, to see him tied for 25th, alongside the 2016 Kenya Open winner Sebastian Soderberg. The other Kenyan to have made the cut, Justus Madoya finished tied for 72nd, with an overall score of 5 over par, 289.

Meanwhile Scotland’s Robert Macintyre, shot an impressive round of 8-under par, 63, the best of the tournament, placing him tied for 17th on an overall score of 7-under par, 277. The 2018 winning Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn, was tied for 12th place on an overall score of 8-under par.