– Jayden Schaper (-22) has won the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open after defeating Ryan Gerard (-22) on the second playoff hole with a spectacular eagle, just as he did last week at the Alfred Dunhill Championship against Shaun Norris: playoff, eagle, and onto the next. Seven days ago, he made the eagle on the first playoff hole by sinking a putt of about five metres from the fringe, and this time he did it on the second, holing out from the fairway, about forty metres from the flag, with a magnificent chip. If this young man isn’t touched by a divine wand, who is?
– Schaper thus secures his second consecutive victory on the DP World Tour and certainly confirms that he has entered another dimension. To begin with, it was almost an anomaly that the young South African had never played a Major, a situation that will undoubtedly change in 2026. His game, so accurate, so aggressive, so full of resources, has come to stay among the best. He is top 50 world material, although he won’t reach that mark after this second triumph. It will be a matter of time because, it must be emphasised, he has the makings of a candidate for absolutely everything. South African golf was looking for a successor worthy of names like Oosthuizen or Schwartzel (not to mention Els or Goosen), major winners, and credit must be given to the candidacy presented by Schaper at the end of 2025. Just the way he has won these two tournaments, with such determination and brilliance, presents us with a player among the chosen ones. Afterwards, time will tell, of course, because staying at the top is harder than getting there, but his introduction at the highest level has been impressive. It’s the law of golf and life: the schapers arrive and eventually elbow out of the top 50 in the world those who are not sharp and alert.
– The prowess of Schaper is perfectly captured in the two 64-shot cards he signed over the weekend at the Heritage La Reserve Golf Links (Bel Ombre, Mauritius) to reach a score of -22 that, in truth, didn’t seem possible on this course and in the windy conditions experienced this week. Only an inspired Ryan Gerard, especially on the greens, was able to offer an adequate response to the South African’s display. The 26-year-old American, by the way, also deserves all the credit: showing up at a tournament with the goal of finishing in the top four (he needed it to break into the top 50 in the world and earn an invitation to the Masters at Augusta) and being so close to victory says a lot about his composure and consistency. Until now, he had never shown himself to be a great putter on the major tours, at least not regularly, but this week it has been a pleasure to watch how (and with what sublime touch) he has tamed these undulating greens.
– Gerard also starred in the ‘controversial’ moment of the day and the week. On the 18th hole, a par 5, he needed a birdie to force a playoff with Schaper, who had just made a late birdie right in front of him, playing in the group ahead. Well, when the North Carolinian was about to hit his second shot with a wood, the ball, on a downhill lie and in a somewhat unstable position, moved, apparently just as the player had grounded the club behind it. Gerard claimed he hadn’t fully grounded the club, and indeed the television images, especially due to the perspective, were not entirely conclusive, so the referees, after reviewing the footage repeatedly, determined that the fairest decision was to credit the player’s testimony, who eventually made the birdie and entered the playoff. His situation on the second playoff hole, it must be said, was very complicated, as he was lying three in a greenside bunker, but Schaper quickly closed it out with the aforementioned eagle chip from about forty metres. Surely this outcome will mitigate any lingering controversy from the contentious action…
– Manu Elvira (-14) finished with a round of 70 strokes, two under par for the day, which certainly wasn’t bad, considering the troubles the Spanish player got himself into here and there. It’s true that the younger Elvira also wasn’t sharp with his birdie putts, but he did sink a good number of very delicate putts to save pars and ultimately finish the tournament inside the top ten, with the season well underway.
