Wu Ashun of China plays a shot during the final round of the China Open golf tournament in Beijing on April 29, 2018. (PHOTO / AFP)

NAIROBI - Italian golfer Guido Migliozzi will lead a legion of past foreign-based winners of the Kenya Open, which will be played at Nairobi's Karen Country club from March 12-15.

The tournament, which is part of the European Tour, will have a maximum field of 144 players with hosts Kenya entering eight professionals and five amateurs.

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The tournament, which is part of the European Tour, will have a maximum field of 144 players with hosts Kenya entering eight professionals and five amateurs

He will expect a strong challenge from Wu Ashun from China, who has won three times on the European Tour this season and twice on the Japan Golf Tour, along with his compatriot Li Haotong.

Robinson Chinhoi of Zimbabwe and Nigeria's Andrew Odoh qualified to play at the Kenya Open through the 2019/20 edition of the Safari Tour, which served as the qualifier event for Kenya's premier gold competition.

Organizers Kenya Open Golf Limited (KOGL) also confirmed that South Africans Toto Thimba and Jayden Schaper will be among the African players to grace the three-day competition.

"The field in this year competition will remain at 144 players. We have, however, seen a significant increase in interest from the European Tour players to come play at the Kenya Open, with over 200 entries received," Patrick Obath, the tournament director told reporters on Tuesday in Nairobi.

The former champions lined up for a repeat win will be led by incumbent Migliozzi and Lorenzo Gagli, both from Italy.

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Others are 2017 winner Aaron Rai from England, who won the 2018 Hong Kong Open, Sweden's Sebastian Soderberg and Haydn Porteous from South Africa.

Others expected include Chris Wood, winner of the 2016 BMW PGA Championship, Justin Harding, winner of the 2019 Qatar Masters, Alexander Levy, and five-time European Tour champion Shubhankar Sharma.

The Kenyan team will be led by hard-hitting Dismas Indiza and Simon Ngige who are part of the eight Kenyan professionals who qualified through the just-concluded Safari Tour Golf Series.