Kibugu breaks into Africa’s top 100 after tour triumph
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Reading Time: 3min | Tue. 27.01.26. | 11:53
His dominant performances secured him the Order of Merit title and a Sunshine Tour playing card, underlining the Tour’s growing impact on professional golf in the region
Kenyan professional Njoroge Kibugu has broken into Africa’s top 100 golf rankings following a remarkable performance in the just concluded inaugural season of the Sunshine Development Tour East Africa Swing, which saw him make a significant climb in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Kibugu emerged as the Sunshine Development Tour East Africa Swing Order of Merit champion after winning four of the 10 legs and recording five top 10 finishes during the season.
As a result, he rose 177 places in the latest world rankings to 1,359 globally and 96th in Africa.
In just 10 Sunshine Development Tour events, all played in East Africa, Kibugu climbed a total of 2,149 places in the world rankings, moving from 3,508 at the start of the season to his current position.
He is now one of only six players in Africa’s top 100 who are not South African.
The others are Morocco’s elite amateur Adam Bresnu, who largely plays in the United States and the Middle East, and Zimbabweans Stuart Krog, ranked 73rd; Benjamin Follett Smith, ranked 43rd; and Kieran Vincent, ranked 22nd, who all compete on South Africa’s Sunshine Tour. Also from Zimbabwe is Asia Tour player Scott Vincent, ranked 10th
Every other golfer in Africa’s top 100 is South African.
Unlike the other non-South African players in the top 100, who compete regularly on tours that award higher world ranking points, Kibugu’s progress has come entirely through the Sunshine Development Tour East Africa Swing.
His performances on the tour alone have earned him the points that now place him among Africa’s leading golfers.
Kibugu’s rise has also made him the highest-ranked Kenyan and East African golfer on the continent.
Rwanda’s Celestin Nsanzuwera is currently ranked 118th in Africa, while Kenya’s Dismas Indiza sits at 150th, followed by Greg Snow, ranked 152nd.
Elite amateur John Lejirma ranked 157th, and CJ Wangai ranked 187th. Among amateurs, Lejirma is ranked fourth in Africa and 85th in the world.
The Sunshine Development Tour East Africa Swing recorded strong overall gains across the region.
By the end of the 2025/26 season, 88 players on the Order of Merit were ranked on the Official World Golf Ranking, including 59 from Kenya, 10 from Uganda, six from Rwanda, four from Tanzania, three from Zimbabwe, three from Nigeria, and one each from Malawi, Niger, and Zambia.
Thirty players improved their world ranking by more than 1,000 places during the season, with six climbing over 2,000 places.
Nsanzuwera recorded the biggest rise with a gain of 2,981 places, followed by Indiza with 2,483, Snow with 2,477, Lejirma with 2,443, Kibugu with 2,149, and Wangai with 2,096.
Three players from the East Africa Swing finished the season ranked inside the world’s top 2,000.
These were Kibugu ranked 1,359, Nsanzuwera ranked 1,614, and Uganda’s Ronald Rugamayo ranked 1,987.
Fourteen players ended the season inside the world’s top 3,000, while 20 finished inside the top 4,000.
Players from the Sunshine Development Tour East Africa Swing who qualify for this year’s Magical Kenya Open will have an opportunity to earn even more world ranking points should they make the cut and finish strongly.
The Sunshine Development Tour East Africa Swing has established a clear, merit-based pathway for East African golfers to earn Official World Golf Ranking points, which are crucial for Olympic qualification and access to global tours.
Kibugu’s dominant performances secured him the Order of Merit title and a Sunshine Tour playing card, underlining the Tour’s growing impact on professional golf in the region.
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