Before getting into our betting tips for the Magical Kenya Open, I do recommend having a read of my tournament preview article here. You can catch-up on all my deep-dive course analysis of Muthaiga Golf Club, course comps, and weather for the tournament. Hopefully, this helps provide a glimpse into part of my process behind the Magical Kenya Open golf betting tips below.
You can find my latest profit and loss tracker here.
Honourable Mentions
As always, those who made the short-list before being unceremoniously ripped out because of some perceived short-coming. As mentioned in my Magical Kenya Open preview article, Kinhult may have made the betting card given his seamless course correlations. However, he has been truly dreadful over the past 6 months. Even the smallest glimmer of what looked like a golf swing could well have seen him included.
Kazuki Higa (80/1) is one who is an accurate driver and could do well here. He was last sighted finishing 11th in Mauritius and boasts a 6th in the Open de France along with a 36th at Crans in just one start at both events. Having not played since December does raise some questions as to where he has been and the state of his game. As mentioned, the Seve factor can play a small part in decisions. Both Santiago Tarrio (100/1) and Angel Hidalgo (125/1) due some attention. Tarrio is on a 26-3 record here last two starts. Hidalgo finished 17th on debut here and holds a 4th at the correlated Valderrama.
Jamie Donaldson (125/1) drew consideration as well. He is excellent in the wind and some fair old gusts are forecast this week. He has a 3rd, 7th, and 9th at Crans as well as a 5th, 6th, and 6th at Le Golf National and a 4th and 10th at Valderrama. His price was slightly a tad too long, when hoping for a longer price on a golfer making his debut appearance at Muthaiga and only showing glimmers of form his last couple of starts.

Magical Kenya Open Golf Betting Tips
Suggested Staking
Posted in WinDaily Premium Discord Monday 19 Feb at 06:00AM ET
Thriston Lawrence – Magical Kenya Open Golf Betting Tips Favourite
5u E/W +1600 (Unibet with 6 places 1/5 odds)
Aaron Cockerill
2u E/W +3000 (Bet365 with 8 places 1/5 odds)
Adrian Otaegui
2u E/W +4000 (Bet365 with 8 places 1/5 odds)
“Nacho” Ignacio Mijares Elvira
1u E/W +5500 (Bet365 with 5 places 1/4 odds)
And
2u Top 20 +260 (Bet365)
Masahiro Kawamura – Magical Kenya Open Golf Betting Tips Best Value
1u E/W +6600 (Bet365 with 5 places 1/4 odds)
And
2u Top 20 +280 (Bet365)
Matthias Schwab
0.5u E/W +14000 (Bet365 with 5 places 1/4 odds)
And
1u Top 20 +475 (Bet365)
And
2u Top 40 +170 (Bet365)
Player Profiles
Thriston Lawrence – Magical Kenya Open Golf Betting Tips Favourite
Long-term readers of these pages will be well aware it is rare for me to go heavy up the top of a betting board. The beauty of golf is that any player can win on their day. With large fields of up to 156 players, golf betting provides some of the best opportunities for leverage over the bookmaker.
It should come to attention when I do so. Although not the shortest odds we have ever taken, South African Thriston Lawrence presents an extremely appealing profile this week. He is worthy of a 10 unit total stake at 16/1. That represents a third of our total stake this week, allowed for by reducing to 6 selections and weighting accordingly.
The course form and correlated performances are impeccable. Lawrence finished 2nd here in his sole appearance. He then went on to win at Crans-sur-Sierre 5 months later. He also holds a 6th at Valderrama and a 20th and 35th at Le Golf National.
After a major deep-dive into a basically new golf course at the Dubai Invitational, I mentioned correlation to those similar courses. Lawrence was mentioned and duly finished 2nd alongside Rory McIlroy and just behind Tommy Fleetwood. A small drop-off in form holds some minor concerns.
However, a return to the motherland of Africa where he has done some of his best may well revitalize him. Perhaps most pleasing with Lawrence is that when in contention, he so often finds a way to win. 4 wins in 2022 and 2023 demonstrate as such. Two of those wins came in Africa. Let’s hope he can add a third this week.
Aaron Cockerill
Aaron Cockerill is in superb form of late. I have been waiting specifically for the Magical Kenya Open to betting him. It nearly cost us a big drop in odds here, as were he to have completed a victory the inevitable plunge would’ve occurred.
Since 3rd December, Cockerill played 5 consecutive tournaments finishing 25th or better. Most notably for me was the 4th at the Dubai Desert Classic, 6th at the Bahrain Championship, and 23rd at Ras Al Khaimah Championship. All present as bomber paradises, which is certainly not Cockerill’s game. It is always worthy of attention when a golfer performs on golf courses away from his baseline skills. It suggests a great opportunity when playing on a golf course that should suit.
That is exactly what Cockerill finds this week. The last 3 months he is 20th for accuracy in this field but just 55th for distance. He also ranks 9th for SG: APP, 5th for SG: ATG, and 13th for SG: Putting. Basically, were it not for a lack of driving distance he probably would’ve already notched a win this season.
Of course, that is not an issue at Muthaiga and his driving accuracy and approach prowess can fully shine. The 2nd on debut in 2022 here hopefully preludes a win this week.
Adrian Otaegui
Moving down the board, we find Adrian Otaegui languishing as long as 50/1. Much of that has to do with a fall off in performance of late. I hold less concerns than most, given so many of those courses are simply unsuitable for his game. He is an extremely short hitter, sitting 111/156 in this field for driving distance but 3rd for accuracy over the last year. This is a much better fit.
That is demonstrated by a 20th at the Dubai Invitational coming on a track that demanded accuracy. Form of 34-30 is decent enough for the Spaniard. His win in 2022 at Valderrama alongside an 11th and 17th there is another key indicator of his suitability. Additionally, his form at the Open de France is superb with results of 7-12-MC-13-16 in his last 5 starts at Le Golf National.
I’m happy to include him in my Magical Kenya Open golf betting tips off the back of his course suitability and happily accept his long odds. He would be much closer to 25/1 had he shown anything closer to his average performance of late.
Nacho Elvira
We continue with another Spaniard with the bang in-form Nacho Elvira. He arrives having gained significantly on approach in his last three starts. That is the first time he has gained on approach for three straight tournaments since 2021.
A 40th in his first look here was far from disgraceful at what can be a tricky course on first look. He holds great credentials from Crans-sur-Sierre with a 4th, 9th, and 13th there when nowhere near the form we find him now. That suits that both the high altitude and fiddly ball-striking required could match perfectly this week.
I also appreciate with Elvira that his short-game should come to the form is the winds remain as strong as forecast. His ability to scramble and make putts could prove invaluable down the stretch with the inevitable missed greens this week.
Masahiro Kawamura – Magical Kenya Open Golf Betting Tips Best Value
Much like Cockerill, I had this event lined up for Kawamura for some time. The 7th placed finish at the long Emirates Golf Club was impressive, losing strokes off the tee simply from his driving distance. A 16th when last sighted in a windy Qatar Masters was also noteworthy.
It could be as simple as pointing these two performances out alongside a runner-up finish here in 2023 to make our case. But further strength can be found in his comp course performances. Valderrama he has gone 39-8-37-21 and at Crans-sur-Sierre 21-9-8 in his last three starts there.
Over the last 12 months, Kawamura is 20th for accuracy and 10th for SG: APP in this field. He looks a fabulous bet at anything 55/1 and longer.
Matthias Schwab
Finally, I made some space on my Magical Kenya Open betting card for Matthias Schwab. Touted as one of the next big products of the DP World Tour, he has really struggled the last two years on the PGA Tour. This standard of field should be much more to his liking.
His best PGA Tour performances have almost always come on courses that favour accuracy. 11th at Silverado, 9th at TPC Louisiana, 21st at Mayakoba, 16th at TPC Deere Run, and 7th at the Honda Classic come to mind.
We need to deep-dive a bit further into Schwab’s history as a result. In 2019 he finished 8th around Crans-sur-Sierre and in 2021 had a 15th place finish at Valderrama. A 12th in the DP World Tour flagship BMW PGA Championship came in elite company just before departing for the PGA. Wentworth is far from the worst comp course, with Aaron Rai having finished runner-up there and a winner on this course on the Challenge Tour in 2017.
It was on the Challenge Tour I found the most interesting nugget for Schwab. He played on this course in 2018 and finished 8th in his only look. That came despite a dreadful opening round of 76 (+5). In fact, nobody was better from Friday-Sunday. On the face of it this profiles as a golfer playing his first tournament on African grasses on a tricky course to figure out, before learning quickly and finding it extremely suitable to his game.
The last time we found a near identical profile was betting Daniel Hillier at the British Masters. He played at The Belfry on the Challenge Tour opening with a 73 (+1) before shooting the best combined score for the remaining three rounds. And we all know what happened with that bet…
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