Magical Kenya Open: Who wins the 2026 edition?
Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 22.02.26. | 10:21
Njoroge Kibugu, the only Kenyan to make cut after delighting the home crowd with an eagle at Friday's final hole, shot 74 on Saturday to end the day one under par to head to the final round last on the leaderboard
The stage is set for a first-time DP World Tour winner for the third consecutive year at this year's Magical Kenya Open, set to conclude on Sunday, 22 February at Karen Country Club.
Following Darius van Driel's 2024 win and Jacques Kruyswijk's last year, the top eight on the leaderboard at the end of Saturday are all seeking to open their account.
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Casey Jarvis and Angel Ayora shared the lead at 17 under par with Hennie Du Plessis and Davis Bryant one behind, Francesco Laporta at 15 under and Ricardo Gouveia, Jacob Skov Olesen and Nathan Kimsey a further shot back.
Ryan van Velzen and Aaron Cockerill were at 13 under along with Antoine Rozner, with the Frenchman's three titles making him the only previous winner in the top ten.
Spaniard Ayora carded a six-under-par 64, his second of the week, but Jarvis' 66 ensured he stayed locked at the top. The former went out in 33 with birdies at the second and seventh before a run of three in a row straight after the turn took him to 16 under.
"Well today was a nice round, bogey-free; that's an amazing feeling. I'm playing very good and hope to repeat that tomorrow. I think the most important thing on this course is to be good from the second shot to the green and the putting, and I think if you have opportunities to make it, you've got to take it," offered Ayora.
Asked about the prospect of a maiden title, he said: "It would be amazing but I said I'm going to try to enjoy it, try to have fun tomorrow (Sunday) and we'll see."
His playing partners, Bryant and Du Plessis, both birdied the last to join him on that mark before the Spaniard slotted in a four of his own to go one ahead again.
Jarvis was coming down the hole in the group behind and was safely in the fairway off the tee, ultimately also making birdie as his eagle putt came up a foot short.
The South African, Jarvis, who shared the lead with Niklas Lemke after day one, with Frederic Lacroix through two rounds, and now Ayora, said, "I think I played pretty solid, played the front nine really nicely, just didn't make as many putts as I would have liked. Bit of a shaky tenth hole but brought it back nicely.
I kind of knew what the other guys were doing. There was a leaderboard on, I think, the eighth hole and I kind of saw that they were all playing pretty nicely. I wasn't thinking of it much, I just stuck to my game plan.
Ayora's a fantastic player, and I think tomorrow (Sunday) we'll both hopefully push each other, and we'll see what happens."