It was an unforgiving morning on Thursday in Mauritius at the Ernie Els-designed Four Seasons Golf Club in Anahita, where few good rounds could be noted among some high scoring. Only 22 players broke par, yet Australia’s Andrew Dodt seemed to be unaffected by the conditions and carded a six-under-par 66 for a two-shot lead at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
Starting on the tenth, the world number 304 opened with two consecutive birdies. He added another gain at the 15th and eagled the 18th to be out in 32. His second nine was less productive and included three birdies and a bogey to conclude his round of 66.
The Queensland resident will hope for big things after missing four cuts in six tournaments on the European Tour this season. The 2015 Thailand Classic champion has yet to post a top-50 finish on the European Tour in 2016 and needs something to change quickly in order to move up in the Race to Dubai standings.
There is a large presence of South Africans in Mauritius this week, who experienced a mixed bag of fortunes on Thursday morning. Dean Burmester struggled to a level-par 72 and Haydn Porteous limped around in 73. Jbe’ Kruger led the charge with a two-under-par 70 that earned him a share of third early in the first round.
Possible challenger Jaco van Zyl went round on one-under-par 71, while recent Volvo China Open winner Haotong Li crashed to a seven-over par 79 and Anahita member Nicolas Colsaerts struggled to a three-over 75.
