– Eddie Pepperell (-8) and Hamish Brown (-8) are the co-leaders of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open after the second round. The Englishman, Eddie, was expected to be, at the very least, one of the great entertainers of the DP World Tour since his early breakthrough into the professional elite (year 2013), with some even seeing him as a contender for the Ryder Cup team… But he hasn’t won since 2018 and, moreover, his last top ten in the European circuit was in August 2023. In fact, Pepperell lost his full playing rights this year, so this week could give an interesting twist to his career. For now, he has avoided big numbers on the course at Mont Choisy Le Golf in Mauritius, which is proving to be a formidable opponent, aided by the invaluable action of the wind. Additionally, he is handling himself with relative ease on some devilish, treacherous greens, where errors on short putts are commonplace.
– As for the Dane Hamish Brown, let’s say that you always have to consider someone who comes from winning twice and securing five top tens between June and October, in the Challenge Tour. This 26-year-old player has something special, according to some of his peers.
– Ángel Ayora (-2) and Iván Cantero (-2) currently lead a Spanish Armada that appears in the second and even third row of the leaderboard. The Andalusian was aiming for higher goals today, but a double bogey on the 17th hole halted his momentum. Sooner or later, the wind and those greens with their indecipherable grain end up getting you into trouble, especially on the par 3s, although the young Spaniard finished with a birdie on the 18th. Cantero hasn’t escaped the big numbers either (double bogey on the 8th hole), although the Asturian, despite carding a 73, was satisfied with the way he is striking the ball.
– Adri Arnaus (-1), Sebas García (-1), Joel Moscatel (PAR) and Santi Tarrio (+1) will also be there for the weekend. All of them will need a great Saturday if they truly still aspire to fight for the victory. The interesting thing about the situation is that Tarrio, who is the worst placed, is only nine shots off the lead with 36 holes to play. There is still much to do in beautiful Mauritius. Only the debutant Albert Boneta (+2) has missed the cut, and he did so by just one shot.
