Santi Tarrio (-4) and Ángel Ayora (-3) have made a good start at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, the last tournament of the year of the DP World Tour that is taking place on the Heritage La Reserve course in Mauritius. Both have taken advantage of the less windy conditions in the morning to deliver a 68 and a 69 that places them high in the ranking. Both rounds were marked by respective eagles. Each one of a kind.
Tarrio did it on hole 12, a 530-meter par 5 that was played with a slight breeze in favor this morning. He hit a great drive to the fairway, an 8 iron second and holed a four-meter putt. Textbook. Taking advantage of the slightly more advantageous conditions of this hole. In fact, at the time of writing this chronicle, seven eagles had already been made on this hole.
On the other hand, Ayora did it on the 15, a 523-meter par 5 that was played with the wind slightly against and that, therefore, has become a little monster. The Marbella native’s play was wild. He hit a drive to the fairway and hit the drive again from the closely mown grass. He left it three meters away and made the putt. No one else made an eagle this morning on that hole 15. The others arrived in the afternoon, with warmer temperatures and the ball flying a little more.
Both Santi’s round and Ayora’s were very eventful, a feature that this course grants. It is a links with a lot of tall grass on both sides of the fairway, so it is very easy to get into trouble. At the same time, if you go straight and solid down the fairway, you can leave many birdie opportunities. “I spent more time looking for balls than playing golf,” Tarrio explained to Ten Golf with his usual and genuine wit.
Well, Santi made five birdies, an eagle and three bogeys, all of them almost in a row between holes 14 and 17, and Ángel made six birdies, an eagle, a double bogey and three bogeys. A roller coaster. The young Andalusian’s round is very meritorious, as he passed the first nine holes with a score of +3 and has managed to turn it around with a spectacular display from 10 to 18, six under par. Precisely, the lack of precision with the driver took its toll on the first holes. When he managed to loosen up, it was a whirlwind of golf.
If Ayora manages to give more continuity to these states of effervescence, he could well be in the numbers of Antoine Rozner (-10), absolute leader of the first day and king of Mauritius. It is his fourth presence in this tournament, on three different courses, and his score is an amazing -62 in thirteen rounds. It doesn’t matter where you put him as long as it’s in Mauritius. His island. His land.
Three shots behind Rozner is Jayden Schaper (-7), one of those who could win the Opening Swing of the European Circuit winning this week, the same as Darren Fichardt (-6), very well placed, and Renato Paratore (-4), who is not far behind.
In the morning shift also played Alfredo García Heredia (+1) and Iván Cantero (+5). Both will need a great Friday to make the cut.
