The DP World Tour has managed to cram 48 events into 2022 and the last of them comes in the shape of the Mauritius Open, returning to the schedule for the first time in three years.
For tournament favourites Thomas Detry and Dean Burmester, plus 18/1 chance ANTOINE ROZNER, the fact that it's moved to Mont Choisy Le Golf is probably no bad thing. Detry and Rozner will both feel they should've won a title which went instead to Rasmus Hojgaard back in 2019, while Burmester is an ambassador for this venue, one who has walked the walk as well as talking the talk by spending plenty of time here.
After another good performance at Leopard Creek, historically not a course he's enjoyed, and with a Masters place up for grabs, Burmester might be the one to beat. The trouble is he's just got a bit of a habit of playing well without winning and the same of course goes for Detry, who I've high hopes for in 2023. Victory for either would be no surprise, nor would it be something to regret at 6/1 apiece.
Rozner on the other hand is a two-time DP World Tour champion who made a habit of winning during his sole Challenge Tour campaign, and with a Hero Cup place potentially up for grabs, not to mention a far superior strike-rate to anyone else in the field, he looks worth backing to gain redemption for that near-miss last time he came to Mauritius.
Part of the case for putting him up at 100/1 back then was that he'd played the event on an invite once before and finished seventh, and that as a Frenchman he ought to find comfort on the island. In each of the last three renewals, three Frenchmen have finished in the top 10, while before that French-speaking Nicolas Colsaerts was bang in the mix at a course he knew well.
So many of the French contingent are attached to clubs in Mauritius, an island where French-based Mauritian Creole is the language of the vast majority of the population, and I suspect we'll see a number of them in the mix again, including Rozner.
One of the form players of the last four months, Rozner's missed cut last week doesn't worry me at all. It came by a single shot on his return from a month off, and when last he missed the cut on the number on the DP World Tour, he was third the following week.
As for coping with the switch in golf course, I suspect we're looking at a similar test, with resort conditions allowing for low scoring providing the wind doesn't blow too strong. At the moment it is forecast to play a part which will help Rozner, a fabulous ball-striker who defied a strong wind to capture his second title in Qatar, and so often the Middle East helps to unravel island events like this one.
Paratore was also part of the play-off won by Hojgaard in 2019, his first start in Mauritius, and it came when in very similar form. Just as was the case then, he arrives on the back of a top-20 finish in South Africa, this time having dominated a Tuesday qualifier to earn his place in the field before playing so well at Blair Atholl.
The Italian is having to go to such lengths to get starts after he came up one shot shy of retaining full status last season, before suffering the same fate at Qualifying School, but since third place in the Cazoo Open in August, he's played like a member of the DP World Tour's top 50, rather than someone struggling to make what was in the end the top 117.
Fourth in this field in strokes-gained total last season, with Detry and Burmester only just in front of him, Brun enjoyed a fine rookie campaign which began in earnest when he got in the mix in Abu Dhabi, a Rolex Series event played by the sea and in a stiff breeze.
That's encouraging when it comes to his potential suitability for this and it also helps allay fears over the fact we've not seen him since the Portugal Masters, as the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship came two months after his previous start in Johannesburg.
It's undeniably true that Pavon has gone off the boil since ninth place at Wentworth and then finishing runner-up to Jon Rahm in the Open de Espana, but there's not been a great deal to worry about and a return to form looks to be on the cards.
Last week he shot 76-68 to miss the cut by one at Leopard Creek and that's just fine by me, as the latter goes down as his best round at a course he's not yet cracked, and it was a performance which screamed pipe-opener with this week in mind.
Pavon loves this part of the world, having spent the 2021 off-season next door on Reunion and become an ambassador for Anahita back in the spring. That means he was in Mauritius a couple of weeks ago warming up for these two events and it's the second one he'll have had an eye on, given that he's played in it three times and finished fifth, second and 17th.
Other French players of note must include last week's contender David Ravetto plus the wildly inconsistent Pierre Pineau, whose win in Portugal could be a nice guide, and who was 10th behind Adrian Meronk in Australia last time out. He's probably the value angle among the Challenge Tour graduates but you do have to accept that he has shown a propensity to allow the wheels to come off.
Finally, watch out for OJ Farrell, who I think might just take the Challenge Tour by storm next year. He only just missed out bypassing it via Qualifying School but it could be a good thing to spend another year on the second tier, where he signed off with a top-five finish in the English Trophy. Contending here is a tall order but he has a very bright future.
All that remains is for me to thank you for reading throughout 2022. It's been a strange one, with by far the best result coming on the Korn Ferry Tour, but hopefully there were sufficient highs among the bread-and-butter of the PGA and DP World Tours to ensure you'll be back, as I will, in January. Sincerely, thanks.
Posted at 1635 GMT on 12/12/22
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