Darius van Driel is looking to reignite his love affair with Africa as he makes his first defence of a DP World Tour title at this week's Magical Kenya Open presented by absa.
The Dutchman was a wire-to-wire victor at Muthaiga Golf Club 12 months ago but had already enjoyed some success on the world's second most populated continent.
He had secured two top 15s and two top tens across this event and the Kenya Savannah Classic supported by Absa, while also finishing in the top ten at the Joburg Open in the 2024 season.
Add in back to back top tens at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and it is no surprise he is relishing being back in Africa after a pair of missed cuts in Bahrain and Qatar.
“I can't believe it's already been a year since I won,” he said. “Time flies by and I'm happy to be here.
“I've always been a bit better in Africa, Africa has been good to me in my career. The Middle East not so much, I'm still trying to figure that out.
“I'm hitting it well and just trying to see if I can figure it out this week and get a good score.
“It's always nice if you get an extra 10% distance (at altitude), it makes me feel like I'm one of the long hitters.
“The calculation about the altitude in the morning and the afternoon, the grass, it maybe helps me focus a bit more on the shots themselves.
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“Everybody is so relaxed in Africa and I like the food.”
Van Driel admitted he took a safety-first strategy in securing victory at 14 under last year but feels it will take a lower score this time around to hoist the rhino trophy.
“The course is playing a little bit different this year, a bit softer, a little bit less rough and I've heard that the wind is going to pick up,” he said.
“I'm going for 18 under this week, that's my goal so hopefully that's enough.”
Another man with reason to feel confident this week is Li Haotong, who arrives in Nairobi fresh off his victory at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
The Chinese made just two cuts from 20 starts only two seasons ago and while he did not expect his return to the winner's circle for a fourth DP World Tour victory to come so soon, he is hoping to ride his momentum to a successful season.
“I’m feeling great,” he said. “I gained a lot of confidence and I didn’t really expect to win so soon. I’m glad to have a fast start and hopefully I can continue the momentum.
“I actually played five days of golf at home in Dubai last week. I hung out with my friends, it was super fun. Normally I’d go back to China after winning but I decided to come to such a beautiful country to play golf again.”
