Antoine Rozner believes he sent a clear message to the rest of the field about defending his AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open title as he opened with an incredible course record 10-under-par 62 to lead the first round by one stroke at the new La Réserve Golf Links on Thursday.

“I think they’ve seen it won’t be easy to take this from me,” the Frenchman said of any challenge to his title.

It was a phenomenal round of golf that immediately became the first course record in the first championship round since this golf course opened shortly ahead of this week’s Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour co-sanctioned event. It was also the lowest round of golf in a tournament for the French professional.

“I couldn’t dream of a better start. I was really hot and shot seven under on the back nine. That was unbelievable. I didn’t miss a single shot and holed everything,” said Rozner, who even holed a bunker shot for eagle on 18 to set the clubhouse target in the morning.

After teeing off on the 10th and climbing to 11 under par with four holes to play, it was a round Rozner thought would end with a magical 59.

“Everything went my way. I birdied holes one, two and three and after the birdie at the fifth I really started thinking about shooting 59, but unfortunately the bad tee shot on the sixth cost me that magic number,” he said after a bogey there, which was followed by a birdie on eight and another bogey on the ninth.

His nearest challenger is England’s Paul Waring who birdied his final two holes for a 63 in the tougher afternoon conditions of wind and rain.

“It’s a little bit unexpected because I didn’t see the golf course until Wednesday because we were delayed getting here. I just walked the golf course on Wednesday and I liked the look of it, then I played great today. I saw Antoine go really deep in the morning so I knew there was a low one out there,” he said.

Young South African Jayden Schaper is currently third following a round of seven-under-par 65 which once again puts him in contention on this Opening Swing on the DP World Tour.

“I played with co-designer Peter Matkovich in the pro-am, and my home course of Ebotse Links is also designed by him. His courses really suit my game,” said Schaper.

But the man looking to become the first player to successfully defend his AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open title and who last year won the tournament by a record five strokes is looking determined to make his mark on this year’s event as well.

“It’s a good course and it will be a nice week. There is lot of golf to be played and I’m really pleased with my start,” he said.

Scores:
62 – Antoine Rozner
63 – Paul Waring
65 – Jayden Schaper
66 – Dan Erickson, Darren Fichardt, Laurie Canter, Lyle Rowe
67 – Pieter Moolman, Marcel Schneider, Lars van Meijel, Casey Jarvis, Matteo Manassero, Jaco Prinsloo, Rupert Kaminski, Louis de Jager
68 – Nicolai Kristensen, Brandon Stone, Andrea Pavan, Renato Paratore, Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen, Ryan Van Velzen, Jacques P de Villiers, Santiago Tarrio, Dylan Naidoo, Joakim Lagergren, Pedro Figueiredo, Haydn Porteous, Daniel Brown, Louis Oosthuizen, Jake Redman, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen, Deon Germishuys, Bradley Bawden, Thomas Aiken, Martin Couvra, Jeong Weon Ko
69 – Oliver Farr, Anthony Michael, Angel Ayora, Marcel Siem, Jeff Winther, Kristian Krogh Johannessen, Merrick Bremner, John Catlin, Keenan Davidse, Louis Albertse, Alexander Knappe, Sebastian Soderberg, Max Rottluff, Stefan Wears-Taylor, Wilco Nienaber, Alexander Levy, Martin Vorster, Sam Hutsby, Chase Hanna, Mateusz Gradecki, Frank Kennedy
70 – Andrew Martin, Keegan Mclachlan, Ruan Korb, Matthieu Pavon, Kazuki Higa, Nikhil Rama, Sean Bradley, Tapio Pulkkanen, Heinrich Bruiners, Daan Huizing, Freddy Schott, Martin Rohwer, Tom Lewis, Clement Sordet, Jordan Gumberg, Sebastian Friedrichsen
71 – Jeppe Kristian Andersen, Soren Broholt Lind, David Ravetto, Will Enefer, Hennie O’Kennedy, Jamie Donaldson, Jack Davidson, Samuel Jones, Marc Warren, Julien Quesne, Joachim B. Hansen, Sam Bairstow, Dylan Frittelli, Hennie Otto, Andrew Johnston, Oliver Bekker, JC Ritchie, Tom Vaillant, Jens Dantorp, Steven Brown, Danie Van Niekerk
72 – Jacques Blaauw, Benjamin Rusch, Peter Karmis, Jonathan Broomhead, Matthew Southgate, Keagan Thomas, JJ Senekal, Jacques Kruyswijk, John Axelsen, Toto Thimba Jnr, Kyle Barker, Daniel van Tonder, Jaco Van Zyl
73 – Benjamin Follett-Smith, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, Anton Karlsson, Neil Schietekat, Estiaan Conradie, Matthew Baldwin, Oliver Hundeboll, Jovan Rebula, Matthis Besard, Luca Filippi, Aneurin Gounden, Malcolm Mitchell, Robin Williams, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Guido Migliozzi, Haydn Barron, Luke Jerling, Adam Breen, Clancy Waugh, Oihan Guillamoundeguy
74 – Rhys Enoch, Nicolo Galletti, Andrew Wilson, Stuart Manley, Garrick Porteous, David Wicks, Albert Venter, Angel Hidalgo, Stuart Krog, Yurav Premlall
75 – Hayden Griffiths, Ashley Chesters, Tristen Strydom, Conner Mackenzie, Wynand Dingle
76 – Rhys West, Robson Chinhoi
77 – Rourke van der Spuy, Lauri Ruuska, Ivan Cantero
78 – Regan Steyn, Pierre Pellegrin, Mike Lorenzo-Vera
79 – MJ Viljoen, Soren Kjeldsen, Joshua Berry
80 – Vaughn van Deventer
81 – Combrinck Smit, Dylan Mostert