Winning is hard – Kenya Open champion Harding
Winning was hard for Harding at Kenya Open
By Michael Sherman
JOHANNESBURG, March 22 (ANA) – Kenya Open champion Justin Harding of South Africa was left a relieved man after he broke a victory drought spanning two years at Karen Country Club, in Nairobi, on Sunday.
Harding carded a final round 66 to finish on 21-under, two shots ahead of American playing partner Kurt Kitayama to claim his second European Tour victory.
Harding said: “It’s been a while since that happened, I’m just happy to have got over the line. I executed the shots down the stretch. But you know, winning is hard. It didn’t feel as hard the first time. It’s a good feeling.”
His first European Tour victory came at the Qatar Masters – which was the culmination of an incredible period of play for Harding which included five wins in just over a year.
Since then, however, the now 35-year-old had not won. The significance of the victory in Kenya then, was not lost on Harding.
“It’s a weird one though. In 2019, after my last win I felt like I could never play badly and then I went through a dip in form which was a lot of mixed results. I had a couple chances in that time, but never got over the line. To be fair, I didn’t come into this week with too much form either.”
In fact, Harding finished second at the Kenya Open the last time it was held in 2019 (it was was not played in 2020 due to Covid-19) which meant he had confidence at the course.
To go with that confidence, there was a small catalyst each day for Harding he explained.
“It’s just nice to come back to place where I’ve had success in the past and go one better.
“Just about every day I had one shot every day that spurred me on. On day one I drove it to about a foot on nine to finish off the round which turned three-under into five-under. That felt pretty good.” – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman