Justin Harding will tee off at Thursday’s AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in a relaxed mood despite starting as one of the favourites to win the fifth edition of the event.
The Stellenbosch pro insists he will not be putting himself under any sort of pressure this week, rather he is looking to fix a few glitches in his game as he prepares for another busy year.
Harding’s adventures, at home and abroad, have earned him praise across the globe in the past two years. Now, coming to the end of what has been a breakthrough season for him in Europe, he is trying to kick back and relax.
He won his first European Tour title at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in March. He birdied three of his last four holes to post a closing 66 and secure his first European Tour title in his 54th appearance. It was his fifth worldwide win in 12 months after securing two Asian Tour victories and two Sunshine Tour triumphs in July 2018 and May 2018, respectively.
‘I’m not putting myself under a huge amount of pressure. I’m out to have a bit of fun and enjoy the Mauritian lifestyle,’ said Harding ahead of Thursday’s tee-off time. ‘I’ve got a few things that I am trying to work on, game-wise, that I’m hoping to implement next year, so I was quite happy with last week’s results. I played solid but the golf course played tough. I gave myself a chance. I had a bit of a bad finish, I played my last six or seven holes over par, which was naughty, but at the end of the day, it was a decent enough week.
‘There’s nothing, really, that I need to go in depth into in terms of what I am working on. I guess, I kind of felt like I lost my way a little bit, halfway through the year. So, I’m just trying to reimplement a couple of things that I may have forgotten. It’s an opportunity for me to start the new year on the European Tour season with a bit of a bang and if I have another top 10, then it’s good.
‘It’s been a decent enough year. If you look at it as a whole; 12 months, it’s been very, very good. It’s opened up a bunch of doors for next year, so I’m just looking forward to a good week and putting my feet up and enjoying a good Christmas at home.’
