The DP World Tour is about to bid farewell to 2024, but there is still time for one more event – the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open – before the two tournaments part ways.
South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen won last year's event on a course he helped design, but with the Mauritius Open returning to the site of the 2022 tournament without Oosthuizen on site, that's all going to go wrong this time changed.
Frenchman Antoine Rozner leads the market as 2024 betting favorite, with strong support from Spain's Angel Ayora and England's John Parry – Both performed well in last week's Alfred Dunhill Stakes.
But in the fifth and final event of the Opening Swing, a new group of golfers will follow in Sean Norris' footsteps and end their year in perfect fashion.
Four members of the Golf Monthly team have chosen who we think will be, plus another player we think might enjoy a surprisingly good few days…
Louis Oosthuizen wins 2023 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open trophy
(Image source: Getty Images)
Mauritius Open: Course
Mont Choisy Le Golf in Grand Bay is the venue for the 2024 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, returning for the second time after its debut in 2022. Antoine Rozner, who used the course for the first time, shot 19 under and won in a canter by five strokes.
The 7,051-yard layout will be played as a par-72 this week and includes five par 3s and five par 5s as well as most par 4s. It was designed by Peter Matkovich and only opened in October 2017.
Its signature hole is the 138-yard par-3 No. 15, where you can hit the ball over a wetland area with just a flick of your wedge to the island green in front of the tall, ancient stone chimney.
The rest of the course features black volcanic rock wastelands, palm-fringed fairways and plenty of water hazards with small lakes scattered throughout the holes.
The 15th hole at Mont Choisy Le Golf
(Image source: Getty Images)
Mauritius Open past champions
Due to Covid-19, no competitions are taking place in 2020 or 2021.
| Year | champion | winning score |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Louis Oosthuizen | -17 (two-stroke) |
| 2022 | Antoine Rozner | -19 (five strokes) |
| 2019 | Rasmus Hoggard | -19 (Playoffs- Renato Parlatore, Antoine Rozner) |
| 2018 | Kurt Kitayama | -20 (two-stroke) |
| 2017 | Dylan Frittelli | -16 (Playoffs – Arjun Atwal) |
| 2016 | Wang Zhengxun | -6 (one stroke) |
| 2015 | George Coetzee | -13 (Playoffs – Thorbjorn Olsen) |
Mauritius Public Betting Odds
The odds of outright victory are via FanDuel Sportsbook
- Antoine Rozner(+850)
- Angel Ayora(+1400)
- John Parry(+2000)
- Richard Mansell (+2500)
- Gavin Green (+2500)
- Jayden Schaper (+2800)
- Wenyi Ding (+3000)
- Marcus Kimhuth (+3000)
- Casey Jarvis (+3300)
- Oliver Lindell (+3500)
- Matthew Southgate (+3500)
- Sean Crocker (+4000)
- Zihao Jin (+4500)
- Kieran Vincent (+4500)
- Robin Williams (+4500)
- Nikolai von Deringshausen (+4500)
- Marcel Schneider (+4500)
- Andrea Pawan (+4500)
- Yurav Premol (+5000)
- Daniel Brown (+6000)
- All other players are priced at +6500 or higher
Mauritius Open Betting Picks
Angel Ayora watches the 2024 Challenge Tour Finals
(Image source: Getty Images)
Favorite: Angel Ayora (+1400)
Things are going well for the talented Spaniard, who reportedly turned down LIV Golf in order to pursue his DP World Tour and PGA Tour dreams, after graduating from the Challenge Tour.
He has one win and six other top-six finishes in his past 12 starts, including a tie for fifth at last week's Alfred Dunhill Championship. He looks to be a star on the rise and could win his first DPWT Championship this week.
Outsider: Ryan Van Velzen (+7500)
The South African enters the week in excellent form after finishing second in the Alfred Dunhill Championship, just one point behind Sean Norris. Van Velzen has four career wins, all in South Africa, two of which came during the 2023-24 Sunshine Tour season, and was awarded the Order of Merit.
He has played in two majors this year and the Mauritius Open twice. At just 23 years old, he is another young South African to watch in the coming years.
Barry Plummer
(Image source: Getty Images)
Favorite: Casey Jarvis (+3300)
Jarvis had a strong finish in 2024, finishing sixth in the Genesis Championship, the penultimate start of the year, before kicking off the 2025 season with an 11th-place finish in South Africa.
The South African finished 25th in this event last year and was clearly off to a good start to the new season after another strong performance the previous week. He currently ranks first in par-5 scoring, a key metric considering there are par-5s at Mont Choisy Golf Club. For a reasonable price, there's a lot to like about this young talent.
Outsider: Daniel Brown (+6000)
Dan Brown played some great golf in 2024, with a third place finish at the Andalusia Masters and a tenth place finish at the British Open perhaps the highlights. His lack of worry about the particularly changing wind conditions at Royal Troon has served him well in this test and represents huge value when you consider he finished third in this event last year.
(Image source: Getty Images)
Favorite: Antoine Rozner (+850)
I knew he was the favorite, but he was the first player that came to mind before I even looked at the field. The Frenchman finished fourth at the Genesis Championship and tied for sixth at the Abu Dhabi Championship. The recent performance has been impressive. The Zabi HSBC Championship and DP World Tour Championship tied for third place.
If recent results aren't enough to convince you, it's worth noting that Rozner won the event on this course the year before, lost in a playoff in 2019 and finished in the top 10 in 2018. Without showing my form in the game, I don’t know what else to do!
Outsider: Jacob Skow Olson (+12,000)
We've already seen a Dane win this race in the form of Rasmus Hojgaard, so why not another Dane? Jacob Skov Olesen won the 2024 Amateur Championship in June and is my pick here after finishing tied for 27th at the Australian Open. Got off to a great start in career.
The southpaw is one of the most accurate hitting players on the DP World Tour, averaging 72.6 percent of his shots hitting the fairway. More importantly, his short game is excellent, which will really come in handy on the rough terrain of Mont Choisy Le Golf.
Jonny Layfield
(Image source: LIV Golf)
Favorite: Kieran Vincent (+4500)
The former LIV golfer will make his professional debut on the DP World Tour, just days after his time in the PIF-backed league officially ended. Despite losing his spot in the LIV Golf League due to relegation, Vincent has been in fine form over the past few weeks, posting three top-10 finishes in four events on the Asian Tour and scoring at least half of each event opportunity to play.
Since he is one of the weaker players on the DP World Tour, I don't think he can start in the best possible way and secure his short-term future in Europe.
Outsider: Yurav Premlal (+5000)
Premlal, South Africa, has finished second, third or fourth in seven events on the Sunshine Tour since the start of June (16 events in total) and also won the Vodacom Golf Origins-Six Gods Tournament. won. He also didn’t miss a cut during that time.
Although he has had trouble qualifying for the DP World Tour in the past, the 21-year-old appears to have found his calling as a pro and is likely to finish high at the Mauritius Open.
How to watch the Mauritius Open
United States (East)
- Thursday, December 19 – Round 1: 3:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. (Golf Channel/NBC Sports App)
- Friday, December 20 – Round 2: 3:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. (Golf Channel/NBC Sports App)
- Saturday, December 21 – Round 3: 4:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. (Golf Channel/NBC Sports App)
- Sunday, December 22 – Round 4: 1:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m. (Golf Channel/NBC Sports App)
United Kingdom (GMT)
- Thursday, December 19 – Round 1: 8:30am – 1:30pm (Sky Sports Golf)
- Friday, December 20 – Round 2: 8:30am – 1:30pm (Sky Sports Golf)
- Saturday, December 21 – Round 3: 9:00am – 1:30pm (Sky Sports Golf)
- Sunday, December 22 – Round 4: 6:00am – 11:00am (Sky Sports Golf)
Golf Monthly Betting Picks: Best Results
| result | player | event | price | general manager staff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| win | Tyrell Hatton | Alfred Dunhill Links Championship | +1100 | Jonny Layfield |
| win | An Bingxian | Genesis Tournament | +850 | Jonny Layfield |
| win | Paul Welling | Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship | +12000 | Matt Craddock |
| win | Joaquin Nyman | saudi international | +700 | Jonny Layfield |
| win | Scotty Scheffler | Hero World Challenge | +225 | Barry Plummer |
| second place | Tyrell Hatton | Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship | +650 | Matt Craddock |
| second place | Cameron Smith | Australian PGA Championship | +900 | Jonny Layfield and Matt Craddock |
| T2nd | Thorbjorn Olsen | French Open | +2200 | Barry Plummer |
| T2nd | Yannick Paul | French Open | +4000 | Barry Plummer |
| Section 3 | Marty Schmid | Shriners Children's Open | +5000 | Matt Craddock and Elliott Heath |
