Meet Andrew Odoh – The Only Nigerian On The Official World Golf Ranking

On the Official World Golf Ranking, the only name from Nigeria is Andrew Odoh who is being hailed as “Nigeria’s equivalent of Tiger Woods.” The 36-year-old who is based in South Africa turned professional in 2004 – one year after failing the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Qualifying School held in Ibadan.

Now ranked number one on the PGA of Nigeria Order of Merit, and number 42 on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa, Odoh has won over 30 competitions within Nigeria and five outside the country. At a young age, he was inspired by his elder brother, Paul, who was an astounding golfer. However, Odoh learnt golf mostly by watching people play at the Military Cantonment Golf Club in Minna.

Speaking to the Nation about the competitions that stand out for him, he said:

“There are lots of events that I hold very dear to my heart. Especially, the inaugural event of the West African Golf Tour was also very good for me. I was really happy that I was able to pull that through as well.

Obviously, I like all my wins – a win is a win – but the one that stood out was the Memorial Cup and the inaugural West African Golf Tour.”

Odoh is the only Nigerian to be invited to the 2017 Kenya Open at the Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi. While enjoying such privileges, he believes that there are golfers out there who are just as good as himself – but, sadly, without sponsorship, they can’t play.

 

Having excelled in Nigeria, Odoh is looking at getting better at international events. Although he’s currently number 1454 on the World Rankings (lol), his biggest dream is to play in the PGA Tour and to become one of the top players in the world. And we wish him all the best!