Frenchman Antoine Rozner moves to joint lead after stellar show in second round

Frenchman Antoine Rozner shot the round of the day by two shots, an eight under par 64, along with a first round 70 to be tied first after 36 holes on 10 under par in the €1 million AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, being held at Mont Choisy Le Golf, Grand Baie, Mauritius.

Joining Rozner at the top of the leaderboard is first round leader Sami Valimaki of Finland, who took 10 more shots than day one to also stand alongside Spain’s Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, who shot 66.

Rozner, the 29 year-old two-time winner on the DP World Tour including the 2020 Golf in Dubai Championship presented by DP World, on the Fire course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, shot an eight birdie no bogey round, the only bogey-free round of the day from the entire field.

Tricky and tough day

The wind was a lot stronger than in round one, making putting tougher and the overall course played faster.

At the end of his round Rozner commented: “I could not have scored better today. It is one of the first times in my career I was happy with every single score on every hole. It was tricky and tough and the side winds were difficult and my short game and putting were solid. I made just one mistake on hole five and got away with it. I like the golf course and Mauritius and I like to be aggressive off the tees, it is a fun week.”

Last week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship winner Ockie Strydom of South Africa shot a second round 73 to be in tied 26th on two under par.

The 36-hole cut fell at level par with 70 players progressing to the weekend.

Second round leaders (Par 72, 7,051 yards)

A. Rozner (Fr) 70, 64 — 134

S. Valimaki (Fin) 62, 72 — 134

A. Garcia-Heredia (Spain) 68, 66 — 134

O. Bekker (Ger) 64, 71 — 135

C. Bring (Den) 67, 69 — 136

P. Pineau (Fr) 65, 71 — 136

C. Jarvis (RSA) 69, 67 — 136