The other European Tour event this week comes from the beautiful island of Mauritius as the AfrAsia Mauritius Open is played for the fourth time. This is becoming another popular event on the Tour in such picturesque surroundings.
South African star Dylan Frittelli won the tournament last year but he defends on a different course this year. You would have to say that with all the golf going on this week and the hectic schedule in recent times this is an average field at best.
Recent Winners
2017 – Dylan Frittelli
2016 – Jeunghun Wang
2015 – George Coetzee
The Course
We are back at the Four Seasons Golf Club in Anahita this week. The course is a par 72 which measures 7,401 yards and being a coastal course its defence is obvious – the wind. When it blows this can be a very tough track as evidenced by only two men finishing under par the last time the tournament was held here in 2016.
This is very much a second shot in golf course. The fairways here are pretty wide but the greens are small and extremely undulating. Scrambling is going to be a big thing this week while you have to putt well to contend around here. There is nothing to sway the bigger hitters off the tee so length is an advantage but not at the detriment of the short game.
The Field
Dylan Frittelli and Justin Harding are the only two members of the world’s top 100 who tee it up in this tournament which highlights both how weak the field is and how wide open the tournament is. Bernd Wiesberger makes his return from injury here too which gives the field a little more quality.
Home player Nicolas Colsaerts tees it up this week as do potential young stars Jordan Smith and Matthias Schwab. Former champions Jeunghun Wang and George Coetzee go in quest of regaining the title in among a host of South African and Asian Tour players.
Market Leaders
Dylan Frittelli is the 10/1 favourite to win the tournament this week. He is the best player in the field on world ranking and is the defending champion although he won the tournament on a different course to this one. He should still be good enough to win this title but as ever I’m reluctant to play defending champions and while I could regret it at the end of the week I’ll stick to my guns.
Jordan Smith had an excellent week in Dubai recently and a repeat of that should make him extremely dangerous at 16/1. Those weeks do not come along as regularly as I would like given his skinny price though so I’m put off him. Nicolas Colsaerts is much harder to dismiss given that he is tied to the course and should know every inch of it. He is 18/1 to win what could be classed as his home tournament.
Victor Perez went well in Hong Kong last week although they all needed snookers in that tournament from early on. Rai and Fitzpatrick aside the Frenchman was as good as anything in the event but 22/1 feels incredibly short. Matthias Schwab has a huge reputation and if the hype is going to be justified he should be going close in an event of this kind at 25/1. I’d need to see it before I believe it mind you.
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Main Bets
I think it would be folly in this field not to have Nicolas Colsaerts on side. This is only the second time the course has been used on the European Tour so knowledge is vital and nobody here will have more of that than he. He isn’t necessarily in the worst form of all time either. He was third here two years ago and finished with a 65 in Hong Kong last week which followed up a couple of top 20 finishes in decent events over the last month or so. That’s decent form in this company and even at 18/1 I’ll play.
Jeunghun Wang won well here two years ago and has shown signs of a bit of life over the last couple of months so in this company I think he can be worthy of a bit of support. Wang is very good on and around the greens and with no pressure on his game off the tee this week he should be able to get himself in the positions needed to score well. Positive memories are never a bad thing in golf and I fancy the Korean to use his to his advantage this week.
Outsiders
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano showed how good he can be at Valderrama a few weeks ago and if he can tame that beast this one shouldn’t be too difficult for him. I like him here because he is one of the better putters on the European Tour and with his long game under no pressure this week I expect him to go well. I’ve been saying for a few weeks that there is a huge result in the Spaniard and if I’m right he needs to be backed in this field.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout is another who has decent putting stats on the European Tour this season and I really don’t think that is a bad thing around here. He isn’t going to be too far off line around here so if he can give himself a number of chances there is no reason why he can’t get himself into position. He is another who was well thought of a few years ago so it is about time he showed why with a strong showing here.
Tips
Back N.Colsaerts to win AfrAsia Mauritius Open (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 19.00 with Skybet (1/5 1-6)
Back J.Wang to win AfrAsia Mauritius Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Betfred (1/5 1-6)
Back him here:
Back G.Fernandez-Castano to win AfrAsia Mauritius Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-7)
Back him here:
Back C.Bezuidenhout to win AfrAsia Mauritius Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 81.00 with Coral (1/5 1-7)
Back him here:
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