Frenchman Antoine Rozner claimed his third DP World Tour title with a record five-stroke victory in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at Mont Choisy Le Golf on Sunday.
Rozner took a two-stroke lead into the final round and closed with a 67 on another windy day on the island to win on 19 under par and with the biggest margin of victory in the six editions of this Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour event.
“It’s unbelievable. I couldn’t dream of a better way to finish the year. It’s amazing. It felt like playing at home to be honest. The crowds here were amazing. It was an unbelievable week,” said Rozner, who in 2019 lost a playoff for this title.
Spain’s Alfredo Garcia-Heredia took second place on 14 under par with a final round of 67, while fellow Frenchman Julien Brun finished third on 12 under par following a closing 72.
Rozner withstood an early challenge from Garcia-Heredia who birdied three of his first five holes to close to within a shot of the Frenchman, who made only one birdie through the same stretch.
But when Rozner made eagle on the par-five seventh, and then birdied the eighth and ninth holes to earn himself a five-stroke lead at the turn, it was effectively over as a contest. He bogeyed the 17th but finished with a birdie on 18.
“I played solid all week. My first nine holes was one of my best nines ever. To play that front nine, the harder nine, in five under made a massive difference. I didn’t know the scores and I just tried to stay focused in the moment. I started missing a few shots here and there coming but I had a big enough lead to get it done,” he said.
“Winning is very hard, so this is huge. It tests your mind and your game and I was very emotional at the end. We work so hard for this and to get it done is amazing.”
The 2022 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open has also drawn a glittering array of blue-chip sponsors including Beachcomber Resorts & Hotels, Mont Choisy Group, Jaguar, Rogers, Heritage Resorts, IBL, the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), 3G Mobile, Phoenix Beverages, Air Mauritius, Mautourco, Fenix XCell Apparel, Hertz, Jacobs, C-Care, Emtel, PRO CARTS, IT Solvz, Häagen-Dazs and Dragon Electronics.
Scores:
269 – Antoine Rozner 70 64 68 67
274 – Alfredo Garcia-Heredia 68 66 73 67
276 – Julien Brun 69 68 67 72
277 – Jeong Weon Ko 67 71 70 69, Dylan Mostert 69 71 68 69, Simon Forsstrom 71 69 67 70
278 – Ricardo Gouveia 69 69 71 69, Oliver Bekker 64 71 70 73
279 – Niklas Norgaard Moller 72 67 71 69, Jayden Schaper 68 72 67 72
280 – Brandon Stone 71 72 67 70, Sami Valimaki 62 72 72 74, Pierre Pineau 65 71 70 74
281 – Matthew Southgate 69 70 75 67, Gary Hurley 72 68 71 70, Julien Guerrier 69 75 67 70
282 – Alejandro Canizares 71 71 75 65, Pedro Figueiredo 71 72 70 69
283 – Marcel Siem 73 69 73 68
284 – Ross Mcgowan 74 68 73 69, Louis de Jager 71 71 73 69, Marco Penge 73 70 68 73, Christoffer Bring 67 69 73 75
285 – Jens Fahrbring 69 75 73 68, Jens Dantorp 71 71 74 69, Bryce Easton 72 69 70 74
286 – Craig Howie 70 71 76 69, Alexander Knappe 70 72 73 71, Anthony Michael 75 69 69 73, Nathan Kimsey 75 69 69 73, Oihan Guillamoundeguy 72 66 73 75
287 – Dan Erickson 68 75 74 70, Ian Snyman 71 73 72 71, Matthieu Pavon 73 69 73 72, Jeremy Freiburghaus 71 72 71 73, Stephen Ferreira 70 68 75 74, JC Ritchie 66 72 75 74, Sean Bradley 73 69 70 75
288 – Todd Clements 70 73 73 72
289 – Tom McKibbin 70 71 76 72, Henric Sturehed 73 71 72 73, Casey Jarvis 69 67 77 76, Jaco Prinsloo 74 68 70 77, Ugo Coussaud 70 73 69 77
290 – David Ravetto 70 73 75 72, Keenan Davidse 72 72 74 72, Gary Stal 71 70 76 73, Christiaan Burke 73 69 74 74
291 – Thomas Bjorn 70 74 78 69, Keagan Thomas 72 69 79 71, Santiago Tarrio 70 72 76 73, Manuel Elvira 71 73 74 73, Niklas Lemke 67 75 75 74, Joel Stalter 73 70 72 76, Danie Van Niekerk 74 69 72 76
292 – Nikhil Rama 72 71 73 76, Albert Venter 69 75 72 76
293 – Martin Vorster 72 72 76 73, Lyle Rowe 69 73 75 76, Richard Sterne 71 71 75 76, Dylan Naidoo 74 69 74 76, Bradley Bawden 68 74 73 78, Thomas Aiken 71 70 71 81
294 – Neil Schietekat 72 70 80 72, Pieter Moolman 74 68 77 75
295 – Laurie Canter 70 72 73 80, Ruan Korb 71 72 71 81
296 – Thomas Detry 68 74 74 80
297 – Martin Rohwer 69 75 75 78
WDN – Ockie Strydom 69 73 81 WDN
