Sunday Olapade of Ikoyi Club is the only Nigerian professional golfer taking part in the 2025 Magical Kenya Open, which began on Thursday at Muthaiga Golf Club.
He chose one of the last three tickets to the $2.5 million European Tour tournament, marking Nigeria’s return to the top tier of golf since Oche Odoh spearheaded the country’s campaign in 2015.
Olapade finished behind Deus Willy and Paul Chidale for the final three Safari Tour Regional Qualifiers on Monday.
Although his opening round at Muthiaga saw him posting +6 (a fourteen shots margin from the leading pair of J. Parry and B. Hubert, Olapade has his second round to make a fight for a stake in the winning purse and world ranking points.
“I will give it a fight. I will give it my best, but my joy is that I can speak for my colleagues back home with this performance here.”
He said the quality of professional golf in Nigeria has greatly improved of late and that is evident in the recent performances of Nigerian players across the continent.
Olapade who won both the Ivory Coast Open, and Ghana Open and also bagged the biggest professional purse in Nigeria in 2024 in succession said a lot of players of Nigerian descent can hold their on the continent if they get the right support.
Oche Odoh who alongside Gift Willy are the standby players for the event said Olapade is an example of the immense golfing talent that Nigeria boasts of.
“Olapade has been blazing since late last year, especially with the series of wins he had but I think the DP World Tour, Magical Kenya Open he is playing this week is the biggest feat of his career. I am very proud of him and I think he has more miles to walk on his professional journey and as colleagues, we are here to cheer him.”
The Magical Kenya Open is one of the few European Tour events hosted on ten continents and a good performance for Olapade could earn him placement in more European Tour schedules.
