Mark Power jetted off late last night after he was granted a late invite into the Magical Kenya Open on the DP World Tour and he hopes that his golf clubs make the journey to Nairobi via Dubai.
Power will be eager to take advantage of this late invite as he makes his first DP World Tour appearance since September’s Amgen Irish Open at the K Club. The Kilkenny man, who clinched a HotelPlanner Tour card at Q-School in the winter, hasn’t made a competitive start in 2026 and had been frustrated that his first game wouldn’t come until April on the second tier due to his low category.
But the Magical Kenya Open presents a huge opportunity with a top-10 finish needed to book a spot in next week’s Investec South African Open Championship.
Power also earned his maiden professional victory at the Clutch Pro Tour Championship and he feels he saw some huge improvements in his game during the second half of last season. That coupled with some returning confidence with his driver has put the fire in his belly for this campaign.
“I saw the signs clicking into gear at the First Stage of Q-School. My driver all year had been a killer for me, when it’s good it’s my best weapon but when it’s off the confidence goes and normally I would hit it pretty far but when the accuracy went I lost confidence but when I got it going it was a lightbulb moment. In the modern game it’s such an advantage to carry it 300+ so to have that in the locker is great. On the HotelPlanner Tour some of the courses are tailored to accurate hitting as opposed to the main tour where the courses favour a more open the shoulders job.”
Power tees off tomorrow alongside Ben Schmidt and Jens Dantorp at 08.40am local time.
Meanwhile, Liam Grehan Tuesday qualified for a HotelPlanner Tour event for the second successive week. The K Club man came through a seven for two playoff to earn his place in the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open in South Africa.
Leave a comment