“It came out hot.” That is what Njoroge Kibugu said after striping what may have been the finest 6-iron seen at the Magical Kenya Open in recent memory. Playing the 18th hole at Karen Country Club, he needed a birdie to make the cut. He made it. Out of 17 Kenyan professionals in the field, he was the only one still standing come the weekend.
That heist - a T61 finish - is the best of his young career, pushing him to 1,288th in the Official World Golf Ranking and, more significantly, making him the first Kenyan professional to break into Africa’s top 100, landing at 96th. He is now the highest-ranked golfer in Kenya. “I underachieved,” he said at Windsor Golf and Country Club recently. “I wanted a top 10.”
