Frenchman Antoine Rozner joined a three-way tie for the lead going into the weekend of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open as he seeks to claim a title that he was denied in a playoff the last time it was played in 2019.

On a windy day that brought out a completely different side to the Mont Choisy Le Golf course, Rozner signed for a sublime 64 to share the lead with Finland’s Sami Välimäki and Spain’s Alfredo Garcia-Heredia on 10 under par. Välimäki, who set the course record with a 62 in the first round, was frustrated with his second round 72, while Garcia-Heredia posted a solid 66 to join the leaders.

They are all one stroke clear of South Africa’s Oliver Bekker, who carded a 71 on Friday.

Rozner was understandably delighted with his performance on a very tricky day.

“I think this is one of the first times in my career where I am happy with every single score on every hole. That doesn’t happen a lot. I don’t think I could score any better on this golf course today,” said the man who in 2019 lost in a playoff to Rasmus Højgaard but who returns as a vastly different golfer with two DP World Tour victories since then.

“It was tricky and tough out there, so I’m really pleased with the way I played. I always missed on the right side and my chipping was great as well. It was tough, especially with the side winds. You had to aim so far right and left with those winds. My putting was also very solid. I’m happy with everything.”

Mauritius certainly suits Rozner and he’s relishing how the island enhances his game. “I like this place. Once you’re off the course you completely disconnect and cannot think about golf. That suits me well.”

Välimäki didn’t get what he was hoping for from his second round and felt his putter was to blame. “It was pretty bad really. We made four easy mistakes and couldn’t make any putts. I just didn’t make putts and had bad chips. I’m still playing good golf but I just need to make those birdies,” he said.

And Garcia-Heredia was thrilled to share the lead as he looks to match the big-game fishing success he’s had on the island by hooking a trophy as well this week.

“I am loving the fishing in Mauritius. The fishing always relaxes me. I’ve caught sea trout, barracuda, a 40kg tuna, kingfish and a few others. Now I have to play some golf. But I enjoyed it a lot out there. It was fun. It was windy, but it was a fair wind. It was always from the same direction, so you just had to adjust for the intensity of the wind. I’m pretty much happy with everything in my game at the moment. I played really solid these first two rounds. I went to see a putting coach because last year wasn’t good, and my putting has improved a lot. I have a good local caddie this week and he knows the greens, so I’m following his advice and it’s going well.”

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:
134 – Sami Valimaki 62 72, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia 68 66, Antoine Rozner 70 64
135 – Oliver Bekker 64 71
136 – Christoffer Bring 67 69, Pierre Pineau 65 71, Casey Jarvis 69 67
137 – Julien Brun 69 68
138 – Stephen Ferreira 70 68, Jeong Weon Ko 67 71, Ricardo Gouveia 69 69, JC Ritchie 66 72, Oihan Guillamoundeguy 72 66
139 – Matthew Southgate 69 70, Niklas Norgaard Moller 72 67
140 – Dylan Mostert 69 71, Gary Hurley 72 68, Simon Forsstrom 71 69, Jayden Schaper 68 72
141 – Thomas Aiken 71 70, Tom McKibbin 70 71, Bryce Easton 72 69, Craig Howie 70 71, Gary Stal 71 70, Keagan Thomas 72 69
142 – Lyle Rowe 69 73, Christiaan Burke 73 69, Richard Sterne 71 71, Ross Mcgowan 74 68, Thomas Detry 68 74, Louis de Jager 71 71, Jaco Prinsloo 74 68, Jens Dantorp 71 71, Alejandro Canizares 71 71, Bradley Bawden 68 74, Alexander Knappe 70 72, Neil Schietekat 72 70, Laurie Canter 70 72, Santiago Tarrio 70 72, Ockie Strydom 69 73, Matthieu Pavon 73 69, Niklas Lemke 67 75, Pieter Moolman 74 68, Marcel Siem 73 69, Sean Bradley 73 69
143 – Dan Erickson 68 75, Pedro Figueiredo 71 72, Jeremy Freiburghaus 71 72, Dylan Naidoo 74 69, Brandon Stone 71 72, Nikhil Rama 72 71, Marco Penge 73 70, Ruan Korb 71 72, Joel Stalter 73 70, Ugo Coussaud 70 73, Todd Clements 70 73, Danie Van Niekerk 74 69, David Ravetto 70 73
144 – Martin Rohwer 69 75, Thomas Bjorn 70 74, Julien Guerrier 69 75, Anthony Michael 75 69, Manuel Elvira 71 73, Nathan Kimsey 75 69, Martin Vorster 72 72, Albert Venter 69 75, Henric Sturehed 73 71, Ian Snyman 71 73, Keenan Davidse 72 72, Jens Fahrbring 69 75
Missed the cut:-
145 – John Axelsen 76 69, Lucas Bjerregaard 73 72, Philip Eriksson 76 69, Jacques P de Villiers 71 74, Harry Konig 73 72, Ryan Van Velzen 69 76, Joshua Lee 72 73, Yan Wei Liu 74 71, Sam Hutsby 72 73, Heinrich Bruiners 70 75, Rupert Kaminski 73 72, Kyle Barker 72 73
146 – Makhetha Mazibuko 72 74, Rhys Enoch 75 71, Nicolas Colsaerts 73 73, Jordan Gumberg 73 73, Ashley Chesters 75 71, Renato Paratore 73 73, Dean Burmester 71 75
147 – Angel Hidalgo 75 72, Luke Jerling 74 73, Anton Karlsson 72 75, Wynand Dingle 74 73, Jordan Duminy 72 75, Velten Meyer 76 71, Louis Albertse 75 72, Jean-Paul Strydom 74 73, Peter Karmis 72 75, Aldrich Potgieter 74 73, Jake Redman 75 72, Luke Harries 73 74, Graeme Storm 74 73, OJ Farrell 73 74
148 – Herman Loubser 74 74, Estiaan Conradie 76 72, JJ Senekal 78 70, Rhys West 74 74, Gudmundur Kristjansson 78 70, Luke Brown 72 76, Vishnoo Seenevassen 72 76, Tristen Strydom 75 73, Pavan Sagoo 75 73
149 – Steve Surry 77 72, Ricardo Santos 76 73, Brooklin Bailey 79 70, Javier Sainz 74 75, Deon Germishuys 72 77, Michael Palmer 76 73, Alejandro Del Rey 68 81, Kyle McClatchie 73 76, Mikael Lindberg 72 77, Jbe’ Kruger 76 73, Luca Filippi 73 76, Keith Horne 73 76
150 – Merrick Bremner 76 74, Grant Forrest 72 78, Divan van den Heever 71 79, Matias Calderon 73 77, Toto Thimba Jnr 75 75, Pierre Pellegrin 75 75, Michael Kok 72 78, Stefan Wears-Taylor 76 74, Benjamin Rusch 80 70
151 – Adam Breen 77 74, Jaco Van Zyl 72 79, Elias Bertheussen 79 72, Mateusz Gradecki 76 75, Andre De Decker 72 79
152 – Quintin Wilsnach 74 78, James Hart du Preez 77 75, MJ Viljoen 80 72, Malcolm Mitchell 74 78, Hennie Otto 73 79, CJ du Plessis 78 74
153 – Keelan van Wyk 76 77
154 – Filippo Celli 73 81, Gerard du Plooy 76 78, John Murphy 70 84, Ryo Hisatsune 77 77, Emilio Cuartero Blanco 80 74
155 – Hugo Esposito 77 78, Freddy Schott 79 76
156 – Kristoffer Reitan 77 79
157 – Henry Sheridan-Mills 78 79
162 – Ruan Conradie 79 83
RTD – Adilson Da Silva 73 RTD