Mauritius Open Winner

The final curtain of the 2022 golf campaign is being drawn with a gathering in Mauritius for the final four rounds of what has been an eventful year in golf to say the least. This time around we arrive at a new track, the Mont Choisy course. At 7050 yards this par 72 looks short enough on the scorecard and has a few water hazards to dodge.

As ever with tracks like these the wind will dictate how difficult this track plays at the coast but it looks to me a course that could easily be taken apart by these golfers. Paspalum greens only rear their head a few times during the year so a nod to form on similar greens is always worthy of consideration. 

Thomas Detry heads the field around the 5/1 mark despite being winless on both main tours. This is without doubt his best chance to enter the winners enclosure and he'll be keen to get the monkey off his back. Only once in his five PGA tour starts this season has he been out of the top 15 and a repeat of any of those efforts would see him very difficult to beat.

There is little to separate him and Burmester at the head of the field with the South African no bigger than 13/2. It would take a brave man to weigh into either even though I believe Detry to be a much better proposition at the prices.

Sam Valimaki at 40/1 (Eight places)

Sami Valimaki was an unlucky loser a few starts ago in Joburg bumping into the inspired Dan Bradbury. It was his best finish for a few years and if you cast your mind back to 2020 you could see a lot of his best form came within the space of a few months. I'm hoping this is the start of it despite an ordinary effort last week at Leopard Creek. This venue in Mauritius should be much more suitable having already won on the coast in Oman.

That win came following an excellent effort in very windy conditions in the Vic Open also and he looks suited to these types of test more than any other. Other top 25 finishes in the past few months include the Scottish Open and the Dunhill Links so a trip to Mauritius a few weeks after his best finish in a few years looks to have come at the perfect time. 

1pt each-way S.Valimaki  40/1  (1/5 8)

Sami Valimaki - 1pt e/w @ 40/1

Niklas Norgaard Moller at 55/1 (Eight places)

Much is thought of Niklas Norgaard Moller but so far the Dane has yet to seriously contend an event during the back nine on a final round. Four under par rounds on the trot at the tricky Leopard Creek is a good sign that maybe he is on the verge of producing four solid rounds to contend. He putted well in Ras on the paspalum greens earlier in the year and his best finish of the season came at the Dunhill Links.

This course isn't very long and there are a couple of par 4s and par 5s that he should be able to attack with his strength off the tee. A lot can go wrong around Leopard Creek so it was eyecatching that he shot four under par rounds there and this talented sort could make his presence felt on the leaderboard come the weekend.

1pt each-way N.Norgaard Moller  55/1  (1/5 8)

Niklas Norgaard Moller - 1pt e/w @ 55/1

Joel Stalter at 250/1 (Seven places)

There looked to be plenty of positives from Joel Stalter's last outing in Portugal and following a successful trip to the Q School a few weeks later looks worth of consideration here at big prices. The Frenchman has struggled with his long game for most of the year but he put together a decent effort off the tee in Portugal and gained on the field all four days with his approach play.

He finished 12th at the Q School which earned his rights for this season and a sparkling 3rd round of 63 there in Tarragona was a sign of just how much his game has improved lately. He putted extremely well in Ras Al Khaimah earlier in the year on Paspalum greens despite missing the cut so certainly looks one of the livelier sorts at triple figure prices.

1pt each-way J.Stalter  250/1  (1/5 7)

Joel Stalter - 1pt e/w @ 250/1

Marcel Siem at 60/1 (Eight places)

Marcel Siem has kicked off this campaign in fine style finishing 16th in Joburg, 5th in the SA Open then 47th last week in the Dunhill. It has been seven years since the German tasted success on this tour and following plenty of positives over the last 18 months he'll be looking to put that right this season.

Prior to those two top 20s in South Africa last month the last time he put consecutive top 20s together was in Ras where he putted extremely well on the Paspalum greens finishing 4th in the field on the second week. Stats are of little use these past few weeks in South Africa but he is playing extremely well and has always been capable in the wind if it blows on the coast here this week. 

1pt each-way M.Siem  60/1  (1/5 8)

Marcel Siem - 1pt e/w @ 60/1

Lucas Bjerregaard at 80/1 (Eight places)

If Lucas Bjerregaard is ever to get back into the winners circle the chances of it being on a links track, or by the sea is significantly greater than the rest. Bjerregaard's two wins on tour have come at the exposed Dom Pedro course at Vilamoura and the three links tracks that make up the Dunhill Links. Good results have been few and far between these last number of years.

In 2019 two of his four top 20s came at PGA National and Portrush. His only two top 10s in 2021 came at the London Club which is heathland in nature and the track where he won on in Portugal. His only top 10 this year came at Celtic Manor. There is a strong body of evidence that he plays better on resort or links type golf courses where wind is a factor.

His recent effort in Portugal was just ok, having produced much better there down the years. Whether you put significant importance on his poor effort in the Q School is another matter, but I'm prepared to chance him on a layout that should suit.

1pt each-way L.Bjerregaard  80/1  (1/5 8)

Lucas Bjerregaard - 1pt e/w @ 80/1