Darius van Driel fired an eagle at the par-5 10th, three birdies and a single bogey to sign for a 67 and win the Magical Kenya Open, his maiden DP World Tour title, by two shots at 14-under. He had led or shared the lead since the first round and made just four bogeys during the event.
The South African graduated from the European Challenge Tour in 2019 but had lost his Tour card last season and regained it at the Qualifying School.
“It means a lot… it’s a dream come true,” said 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 putt 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.”
England’s Joe Dean also signed for a 67 for a share of second place at 12-under alongside Spain’s Nacho Elvira who carded a 66.
Elvira’s younger brother Manuel lies a further shot behind after closing with a 70 and shares fourth place with England’s Matthew Jordan (66) and compatriot Adrian Otaegui (65).
