Dec 20,2024
Englishman Eddie Pepperell saved his best until last as a birdie hat-trick at the end of his first round saw him lead the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open by one shot after 18 holes.
Early starter Jacob Skov Olesen had led for most of the day after carding an eagle and three birdies in his sparkling 67 to reach five under-par.
And with the wind causing problems in the afternoon, no-one looked likely to catch the Dane until Pepperell birdied four of the last five holes to leapfrog him into first place.
Pepperell, who suffered the disappointment of missing out on his card by one shot at DP World Tour Qualifying School last month, shot a total of seven birdies and one bogey in his opening 66 to get to six under.
Olesen sits alone in second place, one shot ahead of Italian Renato Paratore, Norway's Andreas Halvorsen, Dane Hamish Brown and South Africans Jayden Schaper, Jacques Blaauw and Wilco Nienaber.
Irish duo Gary Hurley and Conor Purcell are well down the field.
Hurley was in the second wave of starters and shot a two-over-par 74.
Hurley made a fine start and was three under after seven holes, but the rest of his round included both a double bogey and a triple bogey.
Purcell struggled to a six-over-par 78 with eight bogeys on his card being offset by birdies at the third and seventh.
FULL LEADERBOARD
Leader Pepperell, who has his wife Jen on the bag this week, said: "I am pleased with that. I wasn’t expecting it, I wouldn’t have said.
"After bogeying the second hole I was worried it was going to be one of those Thursdays again, a bit like last week in the windy conditions.
"But I turned it around really nicely and played very well, to be honest, on the whole. So I’m very pleased."
