In the absence of defending champion Kurt Kitayama, here are three Sunshine Tour players who could walk away with the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open title as the tour heads to the Indian Ocean island.
Daniel van Tonder
The Sunshine Tour Order of Merit leader has missed just two cuts in his last 13 events and boasts three top 10s in his last three starts. Van Tonder came third at the Sibaya Challenge, eighth at the Vodacom Origins Final and last week at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, he finished sixth to rubber-stamp a successful season; he won the Mopani Redpath Zambia Open in April.
A three-time winner on Tour, he has proven himself a solid competitor with a knack to produce the goods and will want to prove himself on the biggest stage.
Justin Harding
Harding will want to bookend what has been a really good year where he won his first-ever title on the European Tour at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. He birdied three of his last four holes to post a closing 66 and secure his first win in his 54th appearance. It was his fifth worldwide truimph in 12 months after securing two Asian Tour victories and two Sunshine Tour wins.
Last week at Leopard Creek, Harding earned a hard-fought share of seventh place, five shots behind eventual winner Pablo Larrazabal.
Martin Rohwer
Like Harding in Europe, this season on the Sunshine Tour has been a breakthrough season for the 26-year-old. He claimed the Investec Royal Swazi Challenge for his maiden win and boasts three top 20s and a third-place finish which he earned at the Vodacom Origins of Golf final at Simola.
Rohwer has grown to be a competitor to be respected since joining the Tour via Qualifying School in 2017. A win here isn’t too far-fetched an idea for him and will serve to affirm that, indeed, greatness does begin on the Sunshine Tour.
