MAURITIUS OPEN
Best bets
2pts each-way Mathieu Pavon @ 14/1
1.5pts each-way Antoine Rozner @ 14/1
2pts win Louis Oosthuizen @ 6/1
1pt each-way Renato Paratore @ 25/1
0.5pt each-way Matteo Manassero @ 80/1
0.5pt each-way Ryan Van Vetzer @ 100/1
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While Jon Rahm’s $400,000,000 (more impressive in full instead of just writing $400m) switch from PGA Tour to the voracious Saudi-financed LIV Golf League has been making the noise in the world of golf and beyond, 2023 on the DP World Tour winds up quietly in Africa this week with the modest Mauritius Open at Heritage La Reserve.
This is the fourth new venue in the seven editions of the tournament, also new that it only opened this year, so it’s pretty well a level playing field for everyone bar the warm favourite, Louis Oosthuizen, who co-designed this “contemporary links”, a 7111-yard par 72, with leading South African architect Peter Matkovich.
But before looking at what is a weak tournament but undoubtedly a very picturesque one on this holiday island in the Indian Ocean where its 13 golf courses are mostly designed with tourists in mind, a few reflections on the Rahm move, obviously a mighty capture by LIV and a massive blow to the PGA and DPW Tours.
Let’s be clear, as an independent contractor in an individual, selfish game, the burly Spaniard is perfectly entitled to do what’s best for himself and his family. If Star Sports came along and offered three times what Fitzdares are paying me to write this column and do less work into the bargain, it’s a no-brainer … if I needed the money. But Rahm doesn’t and never will. So it’s pure greed.
That said, he can do a fantastic job in giving LIV a positive worldwide identity by giving them a genuine presence in the UK and European markets they currently lack because of the feeble efforts of their current brigade of past-sell-by heroes Lee Westwood, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter. Their performances with LIV in the first two years of its existence, apart from one flash-in-the-pan victory by Henrik Stenson, have bordered on the embarrassing.
Now with Rahm’s Ryder Cup partner, the lovably eccentric Tyrrell Hatton, also about to take the Saudi shilling, the prospect of a seriously competitive European squad – Rahm will want his compatriot chum Garcia on board for sure – looms. It’s a long shot but it may just turn LIV round as a must-watch team sport in this part of the globe where enthusiasm so far has been notably lacking.
With Tony Finau also jumping ship and more big names rumoured on their way – Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are reported to be interested – the USA will have Scottie Scheffler and not much else for the next Ryder Cup unless there’s a rapid change in rules that give little scope for flexibility.
Back to Mauritius but staying with LIV, Oosthuizen’s weather-delayed victory at Leopard Creek on Monday was further proof that the less pressurised lifestyle and programme of the Saudi-Greg Norman regime is having a beneficial effect on their stars when it comes to facing golfers from other tours.
The South African hadn’t won anywhere for five years and two blank seasons with LIV suggested the 2010 Open champion was heading towards being a yesterday’s man. Yet he and best pal Charl Schwartzel, a LIV winner on the breakaway tour’s debut in England last year, managed to finish first and second in the Alfred Dunhill. That followed back-to-back wins for Dean Burmester in South Africa and an Australian Open triumph by Joaquin Niemann, both also on the LIV payroll.
And on the face of it, Oosthuizen (nickname Shrek for obvious reasons) should replicate Burmester’s feat of winning consecutive tournaments – best player in the field, plus unique course knowledge as co-designer, plus massive confidence boost from ending a long, long dry spell (albeit with signs that his nerve is no longer that strong under pressure, judging from the rank bad shots he hit on the last two holes).
Whether you want to take Fitzdares’ 6/1 is up to you. I would want 7/1 at least but he SHOULD win. Most likely to have something to say about that are chief market rivals Mathieu Pavon (not to be confused with Andrea Pavan who played nicely at Leopard Creek and also has a shout) and Antoine Rozner, both Frenchmen who feel at home in Mauritius where French, or the local version of it, is the dominant language.
Both have tip-top Mauritius form, Rozner in particular. The swarthy Parisian is the defending champion, a winner by five last year at Mont Choisy and runner-up after a three-way playoff with Rasmus Hojgaard and Renato Paratore in 2019 at Heritage Bel Ombré (two more Matkovich layouts). He was also seventh in 2018 so the vibes are great.
Rozner rather lost his way this year, faltering under the pressure of being a Ryder Cup contender but with that behind him, Rozner has started to come good again with 11th at the Tour Championship in Dubai and 15th on Monday in SA.
As runner-up at Anahita in 2018 and fifth at Heritage the previous year, Pavon also has rosy memories of this sun-kissed island as they came at times when he was in nowhere near the success he is currently enjoying. What a run the 31-year-old from Toulouse is on: a long-awaited first victory in Madrid in October was preceded by sixth at the Dunhill Links and followed by a top-ten in Andalusia, 15th at the Nedbank and a superb fifth at the DP World Tour Championship.
It’s significant to me that he swerved the three South African tournaments but is resurfacing just for this finale and I make him my main bet at 14/1 with Rozner, at the same odds, his main danger.
Sorry to agree with the bookies but the 1-2-3 in the betting could easily be the 1-2-3 on Sunday afternoon, but in which order?
I can’t have young Jayden Schaper or Casey Jarvis, two surefire future South African stars, until they learn how to cope with pressure-filled weekends but Marcel Siem, an ambassador for La Reserve, would come into the argument on his best form and nearly-man Laurie Canter, who fell short again at the weekend in the LIV qualifier, is almost certain to get on the leaderboard at some point.
More likely to be there at the business end is Italian Paratore who went desperately close at Heritage in 2019 and has hit form with a T2 at the SA Open. This fine scrambler would have added a top-ten to that at Leopard Creek but for a final-hole double bogey. He knows how to win too and could be decent each-way value.
For those looking for a Christmas miracle, comeback man Matteo Manassero, fifth at the SA Open and a Challenge Tour winner in Italy in July, at 80/1 and 22-year-old second-season South African Ryan Van Vetzer, T2 with Paratore at the SA Open and a Sunshine Tour winner at Limpopo in April, at 100/1 are my big outsiders in a week when the breeze is forecast to be gentle and temperatures balmy. Wish you were here?
Well that it from me this year. Back with the Tournament of Champions which tees off 2024 at Kapalua on January 4. Tough job those golfers have but someone has to do it …
Merry Christmas to you all and a winning New Year!
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