Top-ten finishes for Connor Syme and Ewen Ferguson in Kenya Open

Connor Syme lines up a putt on the 16th green during day four of the Magical Kenya Open at Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi. Picture: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images.

Scottish duo Connor Syme and Ewen Ferguson both had to settle for a share of seventh spot as Dutchman Darius van Driel landed his maiden DP World Tour triumph with a hard-earned win in the Magical Kenya Open.

Syme, who started the day two shots off the lead in joint-third, briefly forced his way into a tie for the lead after going out in two under then starting for home with a birdie to move to 11 under par at Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi.

However, the wind was taken out of his sail by an untimely bogey at the par-3 11th, which he followed with seven straight pars to sign off with a 69.

That matched Ferguson’s 10-under-par total after Syme’s Modest! Golf stablemate had closed with a 68 after picking up three shots on his inward journey.

It was a second top-ten finish for both Scots in this event, Syme’s having tied for third three years ago while Ferguson led heading into the final round in 2022 before ending up joint-eighth.

Syme jumped to 35th, climbing 13 spots, in the Race to Dubai after this effort while a second successive top-ten finish, having also produced a strong performance in Qatar a fortnight ago, saw Ferguson leap 26 places to 44th.

Helped by his second eagle of the week at the par-5 10th, van Driel signed off with a 67 to finish on 14 under, winning by two shots from Spaniard Nacho Elvira and Englishman Joe Dean as the 34-year-old completed a wire-to-wire win.

On the Challenge Tour, Euan Walker and Jack McDonald ended up joint-17th and tied for 34th respectively as high winds forced the NMB Championship to be decided over 54 holes at Humewood in Port Elizabeth.

Björn Åkesson, a 34-year-old Swede who retired in 2017 after losing his DP World Tour playing rights and falling out of love with the game before securing his Challenge Tour return by topping the Nordic Golf League Order of Merit last year, completed a sensational return to professional golf by landing his first win on the second-tier tour.