- He led the tournament from day one to three
- He pocketed Sh61.6mn from the win
- This was his first win on the DP World Tour
Dutchman Darius Van Driel clinched the 2024 DP World Tour Magical Kenya Open champion at the Muthaiga Golf Club. Van Driel totally dominated the three-day event, leading from Day One, taking the final day on a total of 14 under par 270 following round of 66, 69, 68 and 67.
An opening 66 set the tone and the Dutchman made just four bogeys all week in a 14 under total, finishing two ahead of England’s Joe Dean and Spaniard Nacho Elvira.
Qualifying School graduate Dean – who just last week was working as a delivery driver – had 12 feet for eagle on the last to pile the pressure on Van Driel but had to settle for a birdie and a beautiful chip on the last from the leader set up a closing gain and an ultimately comfortable win.
It was a nip-and-tuck afternoon at the Magical Kenya Open staged at the Muthaiga Golf Club, with a four-way tie for the lead around the turn before Van Driel eagled the tenth to take control.
The 34-year-old’s golfing journey has been a remarkable one, with him giving up the game for a number of years after breaking his hand in a banana boat accident, but he decided to turn professional after finishing second at the 2015 Alps Tour Q-School.
He won the Order of Merit in his maiden season and then graduated from the European Challenge Tour in 2019, the same season he lost in the final of the Belgian Knockout to Guido Migliozzi on the DP World Tour.
Magical Kenya provides first win
Dutchman Darius Van Driel, winner of the 2024 Magical Kenya Open
Another runner-up finish came at the 2021 Porsche European Open and while he lost his card last season, he regained it at the Qualifying School and is now a winner in his 112th appearance, in Magical Kenya.
The win – the first in 2,198 days for a Dutch player on the DP World Tour – moves Van Driel up to sixth on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex and eighth on the International Swing.
“It means a lot… it’s a dream come true,” said an emotional Van Driel.
“As a kid you dream on the putting green…’this is for a win on the Challenge Tour’ or ‘this is for a win on the DP World Tour’. Now it’s finally there, it’s what you always dream of. I was calm, but once the last put went in I felt the emotions. I never thought it would hit that hard but it did.
“I saw that everybody was around ten (under) and Manuel (Elvira) was also around there so in my head it was a bit of one v one so me making eagle and him making par (on the tenth) was a bit of a difference. That was a good one.
“I thought 17 is a reasonable birdie hole, 18 is a good birdie or eagle opportunity so I thought in my head maybe 12, 13 (under wins) so if I can get to 14, I’m pretty safe. That was the number I had in my head at the start of the round as well.”
Nacho Elvira’s younger brother Manuel made the first move of the day from the leaders as he got lucky to avoid hitting the trees on the third and left himself 15 feet to take the lead.
Van Driel not letting off the lead
Dutchman Darius Van Driel, winner of the 2024 Magical Kenya Open
Van Driel followed him in from ten feet and while Manuel Elvira bogeyed the fifth after hitting an ugly shank from the bunker, he hit back by making the most of the par-five seventh.
There was soon a four-way tie for the Magical Kenya Open lead, with Spaniard Adrian Otaegui setting the target at 11 under after a 65 but Van Driel burst clear with his eagle at the tenth courtesy of a brilliant 40-foot right-to-lefter.
He dropped a shot at the par-three next after missing the green but had the putter going and a 25-foot effort on the 12th restored his Magical Kenya Open cushion.
England’s Matthew Jordan had reduced the deficit to one after he took on the par-four 17th and got up and down for a sixth birdie of the day but he bogeyed the last after going out of bounds off the tee and a 66 left him in the clubhouse at 11 under alongside Otaegui.
A Manuel Elvira bogey on the 14th meant the nearest challengers on course were three back but the pack were not giving up the chase.
Dean had bogeyed the seventh but he picked up shots on the ninth, tenth, 13th and 15th to get to 11 under, where he was joined by Nacho Elvira, who left himself a tap-in at the 17th after birdies on the second, seventh, tenth and 14th and a dropped shot on the ninth.
An up-and-down on the last for a 66 from Nacho Elvira meant Van Driel’s lead was just one stood on the 18th tee and Dean also moved to 12 under with his two-putt birdie on the last in a 67.
Magical Kenya Open leader Van Driel was nerveless, however, coming up just short of the green in two and getting up and down, with Manuel Elvira also making a birdie in a closing 70 to finish in a three-way tie for fourth 11 under at the Magical Kenya Open.
Scottish pair Ewen Ferguson and Connor Syme finished the Magical Kenya Open at ten under, one clear of South African Deon Germishuys and Frenchman Jeong weon Ko, whose closing 64 was the lowest round of the week.
Facts about Van Driel’s win
Sports CS Ababu Namwamba with other golf enthusiasts at Muthaiga Golf Club
- It is his first DP World Tour win on his 112th appearance
- He is the third winner of the Magical Kenya Open from the Netherlands, joining Jan Dorrenstein (1970 and ’73) and Maarten Lafeber (1999)
- Becomes the first winner from the Netherlands on the DP World Tour since Joost Luiten at the 2018 NBO Oman Open (2,198 days)
- It is the 11th win by a player from the Netherlands on the DP World Tour
- He is the first Qualifying School graduate to win on the 2024 Race to Dubai
- Rises to sixth on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, up from 37th
- He climbs to eighth on the International Swing Rankings, up from 108th
- He moves to 216th on the Official World Golf Ranking, up from 366th
Additional information courtesy DP World Tour Website
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