Romain ready to conquer at Kenya Savannah Classic

Romain ready to conquer at Kenya Savannah Classic

Romain Langasque is hoping that his form at Karen Country Club will culminate in a second European Tour victory at the Kenya Savannah Classic supported by Absa, which tees off on Tuesday and marks the second consecutive event at the Nairobi venue.

Romain ready to conquer at Kenya Savannah Classic

“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. 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 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.

Romain ready to conquer at Kenya Savannah Classic

That added to an already impressive record at Karen Country Club – Langasque already boasted a runner-up finish there on the Challenge Tour in 2016 as well as a tied sixth finish on the European Tour in 2019. Incidentally, on all three occasions he has carded 65 in the final round.

“I have been really good with my irons over the last few weeks but not so good with my driver and my putter but last week was a lot better with the driver and putter. If my iron game becomes a bit stronger next week, it could be better than this week. I will have a good rest, because we only have one day to rest, and then I’m going to go back to fight again.”

Romain ready to conquer at Kenya Savannah Classic

“I’m going to take Monday as a day off. Sunday was almost my practice round and then next week we go again. I think the weather is going to be the same and the weather has been the same every day, which makes it quite easy because we play the same [conditions] all the time.”

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.

The winner of the first event of that 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 Kenya Magical 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 was nice to be back playing golf again. I really played well on Sunday. Even though I shot six under in the first round, it still wasn’t as good as the final round. Getting a few rounds under my belt in tournament competition, I felt really comfortable out there, I played really well and I’m looking forward to next week.”

“It’s really nice to be able to play a really old school course with not a lot of drivers. It’s tree-lined and you have to hit it in the right spots. The fairways are really narrow and then you have this grass which I don’t play a lot in. Being able to hit it in the fairways and give myself a lot of opportunities, the greens are pretty small, so distance control is pretty important, and we’re at altitude so you don’t want to be dealing with fliers or guesswork coming out of the rough. I had a great time and I’m looking forward to playing again next week.”

“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. I’m going to take Monday off and give myself a little breather. I had a pretty long travel day getting here and Saturday 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.“