While the PGA Tour gets the attention of the golfing world this week the European Tour, Sunshine Tour and Asian Tour combine again for the latest staging of what was the first ever tri-sanctioned golf tournament.
The AfrAsia Mauritius Open is the tournament in question and while the stars of golf at in Florida there are plenty of young stars ready to either confirm the potential they’ve shown in the first four months of 2014 or launch a career of their own. This is the second staging of the event.
Recent champions
2015 – George Coetzee
The course
The tournament has moved to a different course to the one that Coetzee won on. He won at the Heritage Golf Club but the event is now being staged at the Four Seasons Golf Club at Anahita.
Nicolas Colsaerts is one of the touring professionals on the course and he has described it as wide open off the tee with very small greens so we’re set for a bombers paradise this week. He claims length can be advantageous as there are bunkers longer hitters can carry and they can reach the par 5s in two.
The card of the course would reflect that too with the par being 72 and the course playing to a yardage of 7,401 yards. All four par 5s on the course are under 600 yards which is rare these days.
The course will have some defence from the wind as you would expect for a resort track so players who go well in the wind will be the ones to focus on this week I would suggest.
The field
In truth this isn’t the best field we’ll see in a golf tournament but it is a competitive little heat with no fewer than six European Tour winners this season in the field including the last three champions.
George Coetzee is back to defend his title and there are a number of improving South Africans in the field such as Jaco van Zyl, Dylan Frittelli, Dean Burmester and Zander Lombard.
Market leaders
Coetzee might be defending on a different course but he is still the 11/1 favourite, a point ahead of the Thailand Classic champion Scott Hend who is 12/1 with Brandon Stone the same price. Jaco van Zyl is next at 16/1.
Last week’s Trophee Hassan II champion Jeunghun Wang is 20/1 alongside the man who won the Shenzhen International Soomin Lee. Dean Burmester is also that price. Haotong Li, the China Open champion, is 28/1.
Main bets
I’m taking three main bets here. Two of them are players attached to the golf course and the other is a man who is due to make a real winning impact at this level soon and this could very well be the week.
Nicolas Colsaerts has a house nearby and is attached to the course and he has already won the Mauritius Masters here in 2010 and was in a tie for fourth last year.
The Belgian will know every inch of this course and as a long hitter he will be well suited to it. In truth there hasn’t been a whole lot wrong with Colsaerts’ tee to green game for a while but his putter has been stone cold throughout. Hopefully being on a course he knows the greens well on will enable some putts to drop and if it does he’s a big runner this week.
Hennie Otto is also attached to the course and he is an attractive price this week too. Otto has been in the top 10 around here in the Mauritius Masters in each of the last two years and although 2016 has been disappointing there were signs early on in his last event in China that he might be coming back into form.
Otto opened up with a 63 and you don’t put up those kind of rounds without hitting the ball well so that positivity combined with the advantage he has with course knowledge this week could make for a lethal combination. At 45/1 the South African is worth a go here.
Another South African worth chancing is Zander Lombard. Lombard caught my eye earlier in the season in the South African events in which he played in four with a worst finish of a tie for 12th. Last week wasn’t so good come the end in Morocco but at the halfway stage he was right in the mix only to falter over the weekend.
I fancy this will be an easier test than that one was though and his length off the tee should be a crucial factor for him. If he gets into contention again then he has enough experience to stay there especially with the power he has from tee to green.
Outsiders
This has the feel of an event that anyone can win with a lack of standout names in the field so I’m going to chance an outsider at a massive price as well and that is Tom Lewis.
Lewis hasn’t got much form to speak of but consistency has never really been a strong point of his. He wasn’t disgraced in Morocco last week so maybe he is starting to strike the ball well again and he should enjoy having the freedom off the tee that he has this week.
Lewis has one European Tour win to his name and interestingly it came on a wide open resort layout like this in Portugal in 2011 and that might be significant. We know Lewis has the length around here. If he can have the nerve and the skill he might go nicely at a massive price.
Tips
PLACED – Back N.Colsaerts to win AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Coral (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back H.Otto to win AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 46.00 with Paddy Power (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back Z.Lombard to win AfrAsia Mauritius Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Winner Sports (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
Back T.Lewis to win AfrAsia Mauritius Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 161.00 with Bet365 (1/4 1-5)
Back him here:
