Last tournament in the calendar year for the DP World Tour, which goes on vacation until mid-January. On the Mont Choisy Le Golf course, in Grand Baie on the island of Mauritius, the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open will take place from 15 to 18 December, in collaboration with the Sunshine Tour, the sixth event of the 2023 continental circuit in which two Azzurri take part , Renato Paratore and Filippo Celli.
DP, schedule
The tournament, now in its sixth edition, returns after two years of suspension due to the pandemic, and will not have any of the five previous winners in the field. There will be three runners up: Paratore himself and the Frenchman Antoine Rozner, overtaken in the playoffs in 2019 by the Danish Rasmus Hojgaard, and the other transalpine Matthieu Pavon, second in 2018.
The South Africans are the favorites starting with Ockie Strydom, winner of the Alfred Dunhill Championship last Sunday. His compatriots Dean Burmester, Brandon Stone, Jaco Van Zyl, Tristen Strydom, Oliver Bekker, Thomas Aiken, Louis De Jager and Hennie Otto have chances with him, two successes in the Italian Open (2008-2014).
Among the ‘foreigners’, together with Paratore, Rozner and Pavon, there are also the English Matthew Southgate and Nathan Kimsey, number one on the 2022 Challenge Tour, the Spaniards Angel Hidalgo and Alejandro Cañizares, the Finn Sami Välimäki, the Belgian Thomas Detry and the Brazilian Adilson Da Silva, a long career in South Africa.
Also on the field were the Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts and the Danish Thomas Bjorn, vice captains (together with Edoardo Molinari) of Team Europe in the 2023 Ryder Cup. Paratore, who turns 26 today, is in his third competition on the 2023 tour and in the previous two he has shown that he is in growing condition (33rd Joburg Open, 15th South African Open).
Seasonal debut for Celli, who has an opportunity to show his qualities. Mont Choisy Le Golf, which winds its way in a context with spectacular views, will make its international debut. It was designed by architect Peter Matkovich who considers it a demanding and stimulating challenge for professionals. The prize pool is 1,000,000 euros.
