South Africa’s George Coetzee is aiming to add a second AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open title at Bel Hombre, after his play-off victory in 2015. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

FOUR-time European Tour winner George Coetzee is aiming to seal a second AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open title at Heritage Golf Club, after triumphing in a play-off to win the inaugural edition in 2015.

The South African, who finished 60th on the 2019 Race to Dubai, has appeared in all four previous editions of the tournament and is aiming to become the first player to win the title twice.

If Coetzee can achieve that feat it would also be a second European Tour event that he has won on two occasions, following his Tshwane Open triumphs in 2015 and 2018.

George Coetzee said: “Lots of good memories from the first year here. I remember playing the 18th hole a couple more times than I wanted to, but it was a good week.

“It was nice to win a tournament outside of South Africa, and it was just a special week for me.

“It’s very social, very casual but some very serious golf. It’s a nice blend of everything,” Coetzee said about playing in Mauritius.

“I might be burning out a little bit with the amount of golf I have played but I’m still feel like I’m playing pretty well,” said Coetzee, who lost an opportunity to win the French Open at Le Paris National in October.

After a relatively six months after his second place finish in Qatar, in March, Coetzee’s late collapse on the notoriously difficult course that staged the 2018 Ryder Cup, allowed Belgium’s Nicholas Colsearts to claim his first win since 2012.

“At the moment I’m just enjoying the golf and then over Christmas I’ll put my plans together,” added George Coetzee about forming a scheduling for 2020 having played 29 times in the past 12 months.

Coetzee’s victory in Bel Ombre four years ago was a special one, as it represented the first title he had won outside of his home country, after opening his European Tour account with victory at the 2014 Joburg Open.

Lawrie named 2020 Junior Ryder Cup captain

Scottish Major winner Paul Lawrie is looking forward to an altogether different Mauritius double – after making his debut in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, he will tee it up in the Staysure Tour’s season-ending MCB Tour Championship – Mauritius next week.

The 1999 Open Champion – who was announced as the 2020 European Junior Ryder Cup Captain today (Wednesday) – turned 50 in January.

And the two-time Ryder Cup player announced his arrival on the senior circuit in some style, winning the Scottish Senior Open in the summer.

Lawrie’s looking forward to competing with some of the newer faces on European, Asian and Sunshine Tours when the action in the tri-sanctioned tournament gets under way at Heritage Golf Club on Thursday.

But he will also be soaking up all that Mauritius has to offer.

Lawrie said: “It’s my first time in Mauritius, it’s beautiful, absolutely lovely.

“ I looked at the schedule and saw that European Tour was here this week and the Staysure Tour up the coast next week. I thought – it’s the perfect two weeks.

“For the players that are getting older and older like me, and playing seniors more often, it’s weird. You get on the range and you don’t know half the Tour when you come to hit balls.

“That’s a good thing, you need to get young talent in and keep the conveyor belt rolling, as it were.

“The scoring is just brilliant, the standard on the Tour is getting better and better. That’s only going to be a good thing for everyone.”

Langasque looking to go one better

THE field at the second event on the 2020 Race to Dubai also includes a host of promising young players including Romain Langasque – who finished in third place the last time the event was played at this venue two years ago.

Langasque, who won the 2015 Amateur Championship at Carnoustie said: “It’s always a pleasure to come back here, and especially to this course where I finished third two years ago.

“It’s a place where I feel great, so I’m really happy to be here. I’ve been a Heritage ambassador for one year now.

“It’s always good to come back here because of the resort, but also because of the course. It’s a very challenging course, especially with the wind like today.

“This is a place where it is windy most of the time, so we have to learn to play with it.

“But the good thing is that because of the wind there are so many options on this course – you can be offensive or less so,” added Langasque, who won the 2016 Spanish Amateur by beating Hampshire’s Scott Gregory in the final.

The Frenchman is joined on the Indian Ocean island by Final Stage Qualifying School winner Benjamin Poke, from Denmark.

Two other notable debutants are teeing it up in Mauritius – four-time European Tour winner Thomas Pieters, who made his Ryder Cup debut in the heavy defeat at Hazeltine, under Darren Clarke in 2016, and his compatriot and fellow ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf winner Thomas Detry.

•For first round tee times in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open click here.

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Essex’s Oliver Fisher carded a 59 in the second round of the Portugal Masters to lead on 12-under… this year he shot two 65s to get to the top of the leaderboard. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

OLIVER Fisher holds the second round lead at the Portugal Masters for the second-consecutive year after moving to 12-under par at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, in Vilamoura.

The 31-year-old Essex pro shared the 36-hole lead in 2018, but holds it outright 12 months on after a second round of 65, which included two eagles and four birdies.

The Englishman made history after carding the European Tour’s first 59 on the same course during last year’s second round and, coincidentally, has reached the score of 12-under again at the same stage in the Algarve.

Fisher, whose sole win came in the Czech Open back in 2011, said: “I played really well the first two rounds last week, the driving was better in France.

“I just got on some bad runs around that course, which can happen. The first two rounds I hit the ball well.

“I didn’t quite hit it as well today, but it was windy,” said Fisher who first came to prominence as an amateur by winning England Golf’s Gold Medal, as a 12-year-old.

“The south-easterly wind makes a few drives tricky. I’m pleased to hit 65, I’m looking forward to the weekend,” added Fisher, who played in the Walker Cup in 2005, in Chicago, breaking Justin Rose’s record as the youngest ever Great Britain and Ireland player in some 80 years.

Fisher, who became the youngest pro to win a card at the European Tour Qualifying School in 2006, is one stroke ahead of South African Justin Walters and South Korea’s Jeunghun Wang, who are both fighting to secure their playing rights for 2020 and avoiding a trip to Q-School next month.

Walters, who famously holed a long putt on the 18th in 2013 to save his card, has sufferred an emotional year after losing his dad.

“It’s hard, but I’m staying in the present,” said Walters, who is coached by West Hove’s Ryan Fenwick. “Hitting the best shot I can and if I don’t pull it off, there’s not much I can do.

“If it works then great, if not it’ll be disappointing. There’s not much more I can do but if by the end of the week I can hold my head up high if I’ve thrown everything I have at it.

“It should be enough, if it’s not we’ll find another place to win a tournament.”

Walters’s compatriots took over the leaderboard during the second round, with seven South Africans sitting inside the top 10.

Brandon Stone holds fourth place on 10-under, while Darren Fichardt and Haydn Porteous share fifth with last year’s runner-up Eddie Pepperell, from Frilford Heath GC.

Stone, who won twice in 2016 and whose last win came in last year’s Scottish Open at Gullane, said: “I’ve been great off the tee all week, and the last few months.

“I felt comfortable with the putter, which has been the missing link for a long time now. I enjoy quick greens and bent greens.

“When we arrived I felt really comfortable. The stroke feels fantastic and I’ve given myself a lot of opportunities – especially early in the round.

“It’s easier when you get birdies to start your round, you give yourself something to fall back on,” added Stone.

“Overall, I’m very happy with where the game is.”

George Coetzee – who had a chance to win in France a week ago, is eighth, while Dean Burmester and first round leader Louis De Jager joined defending champion Tom Lewis, from Hertfordshire’s Welwyn GC, on seven-under in a share of ninth with four others.

The predicted cut-off on the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex has moved to 116 after the cut fell at minus one.

•You can follow live scoring in teh third round of the Portugal Masters by clicking here.

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rench speaking Belgian Nicholas Colsearts was very emotional after surviving the back nine at Le Golf National to claim the Open de France. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

NICOLAS Colsaerts won his first European Tour title in seven years as Le Golf National lived up to its reputation on a dramatic closing day of the Amundi Open de France.

The big hitting Belgian entered Sunday with a three-shot lead and quickly extended that to five in testing wet conditions.

But the oldest national open in continental Europe would go right to the wire during one of the most incredible back nines of the 2019 Race to Dubai.

George Coetzee led by two with six to play and Joachim B Hansen was in the box seat after the leading pair found water on the 15^th – following a Colsaerts eagle on the 14^th.

But when Hansen triple bogied the 17^th to relinquish the lead, the 36-year-old held his nerve to sign for a 72 and get to 12-under.

The victory is Colsaerts’ third on the European Tour but his first since 2012 – the season he was part of the Miracle at Medinah as Europe came from 10-4 behind to win the Ryder Cup.

Colsearts said: “It’s super special. I’ve been coming here for more than 15 years. I’ve been coming here for so long and missed out a bunch of times, and to do it here, to do this like this, where at the end it was a pretty dramatic, makes it even better.

“I made a big mistake on 15. I thought it was slowly slipping away. I knew there was always going to be a chance because the last holes, anything can happen.

“It was a surprise to come on 17 and find out what JB had done. But like I said, when you hole the last putt like this, and you come out on top, it’s really a special feeling.

“I was kind of looking for a week like this where everything sort of clicked together. I didn’t really have a week like that for a long, long time.

“It changes everything for me for the next couple of years. Lighter schedule. I have a wife at home and a little kid now that I am going to be able to spend a bit more time with now, which is nice.”

Colsearts had entered the week battling to keep his card and cut an emotional figure as he ended a victory drought of seven years and five months in his 389th European Tour appearance.

Dane Hansen carded a closing round of 68 to finish one shot behind Colsaerts, with South African Coetzee at 10-under par after a level par round of 71.

Hansen, looking for his first win in his fourth full season on the European Tour since 2013, said: “The back nine got exciting.

“I really got to feel how it is to play for a European Tour tournament. The screw-up on 17 cost me a chance this week unfortunately. Disappointed now but also really proud of my game,” said the two-time winner on the 2018 European Challenge Tour season.

“I’ve been playing well for three weeks now, and put myself in good positions. So getting really close this week was really nice, but just also really want that win.”

Coetzee, who produced an array of stunning iron approaches with some wayward tee shots, which ultimately cost him after his double on the 15th, said: “I was quite happy with the way I played.

“Just one bad hole. But really happy for Nico, he played really well and it means a lot to him.

“That’s why I don’t feel that bad because that is one of those holes (the 15^th) that you can make a number and I made my number.”

American Kurt Kitayama finished in solo fourth at nine-under par despite making a quadruple bogey eight at the par three second after clawing the dropped shots back over the next 16 holes.

It puts the two-time winner who came through the European Tour Qualifying School in pole position to be named the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year, with just one more regular tour event left on the 2019 schedule in Portugal, this week.

Germany’s two-time Major winner Martin Kaymer, Scotland’s Richie Ramsay and Ireland’s Gavin Moynihan were a shot further back.

Belgium’s Thomas Detry, Chilean Hugo Leon and Northumberland’s Chris Paisley were all tied on seven-under.

•For full scores at Le Golf National click here.

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Nicholas Colsearts has had three runner-up finishes since playing for the winning European Ryder Cup team in the miracle at Medinah seven years ago. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

NICOLAS Colsaerts will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the Amundi Open de France after a Saturday round of 67 took him to 13-under, at Le Golf National.

The big-hitting Belgian claimed the last of his two European Tour titles in 2012, the same season he was part of the famous Miracle at Medinah when Europe came back from 10-4 down to win the Ryder Cup.

Colsaerts said: “I’m a bit on a mission. I have a lot to play for. It’s not like actually winning this tournament is at the forefront of my mind.

“I stil. have to play shots. It got a little bit easier at the end but it’s a difficult course to play. If you just lose a little bit of focus, which I think if I looked at the leaderboard and everything, I might do.

“I’m in control of a lot of things, my striking, my emotions, for whatever reason I can’t tell you. It would be amazing to win this thing.

“But like I said, if I stay away from thinking that, I think my chances will be a lot higher than if I see this thing right in front of me.”

Colsearts has had three second places since then and has finished inside the top 100 on the Race to Dubai Rankings every season, but is currently 114th and battling to keep his playing privileges.

South Africa’s George Coetzee’s round of 70 took him to 10-under, as he kept within touching distance of the lead despite a double bogey on the 13^th, which had followed a monster putt for birdie on the previous hole.

Coetzee, whose last win came in March 2018 in his native South Africa, said: “I was hoping it would continue but came to an abrupt halt on 13.

“Kind of the way I’ve been playing this week. It’s either hot off the blocks, or just hold on until you find something, and when you find something, just try and keep it.

“You’d think the putt on 12 was the best putt I hit today, but the putt on 13 for bogey was probably the best putt I hit.

“Because if I had not hit a good putt, I might have left myself a tester for about a double, probably would have been a triple.

“I’m reasonably happy getting out of that hole with a double. I guess I’ll have to play really good golf tomorrow.”

Jamie Donaldson is another Ryder Cup star battling to keep his card and the Welshman celebrated his birthday by  recording a 66 to sit one shot further back at nine-under alongside America’s Kurt Kitayama, who is seeking a third win of his rookie season on the European Tour.

Donaldson, who hit the winning putt at Gleneagles in 2014, said: “I played nicely most of the way.

“Very happy, being my birthday and all. You don’t really try to remember your birthday when you get to 40-plus, but yeah, a memorable day on my birthday.

“Just keep playing the way I’ve been playing the last three days, which is being aggressive. I’ve got a game plan, but I need to be pushing on to try to win the tournament.”

Kitayama, who is favourite to win the Siry Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award after his two wins in his first four months on tour, said: “I just didn’t make as many putts as I made the first two days.

“Still got plenty of opportunities. Just didn’t roll it well. I won’t think about it too much, just felt a little off today. Just look forward to tomorrow.

“I’m quite a few back, so going to have to stay a little aggressive and then, hopefully get off to a hot start, put on a little pressure early. See what happens.”

Dane Joachim B Hansen carded a remarkable 69 as he overcame a quintuple bogey nine on the 13th to get to eight-under alongside Ireland’s Gavin Moynihan and Scot Richie Ramsay.

Benjamin Hebert remains the leading French player at seven-under after rounds of 66, 71 and 69, alongside German Major winner Martin Kaymer and South African Brandon Stone.P

•For live scoring at Le Golf National click here.

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South African George Coetzee tied for the lead in the Frenh Open with Ryan Fox after they both shot a six-under par 65. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

GEORGE Coetzee and Ryan Fox opened up a one-shot lead at the top of a congested leaderboard after the first round of the Amundi Open de France.

South African Coetzee fired his lowest opening round of the season to set the target at six-under par with his round of 65.

The four-time Euorpean Tour winner said: “It was almost perfect. Played really well. Just dropped one on 17, but I can’t complain.

“It’s nice to be in the mix again. It’s been kind of a hard, long year, but it feels like the game is coming along nicely,” added Coetzee, whose last win came in Tshwane Open, in March last year.

“ I think you find which holes you can attack when you get to the green. There’s no real aggressive game plan on this golf course.

“Just keep the ball in play and give yourself opportunities, and there’s obviously a couple of holes where you’ve got to be careful,” added Coetzee, who has won the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit three times in the last four years.

Fox matched Coetzee in the afternoon as the New Zealander also carded seven birdies and a single bogey to join him at the summit.

“I’m pretty happy,” said Fox. “This is a golf course that can kick you pretty quickly. I played really solid today. Holed some putts.

“I played those tough holes, that closing stretch, really well. I could have potentially grabbed a couple more on those last four, which is always a bonus – but very happy to walk away with a 65 around here.

“You’ve got to drive it really well. For the most part I did a really good job of keeping it in play,” said Fox, whose sole Euorpean Tour win came in the ISPS Handa World Super 6 in Perth, in Feburary.

“A couple holes I hit poor tee shots and I managed to scramble and make pars from there, which is nice,” Fox added. “But yeah, you just keep yourself out of trouble.”

Benjamin Hebert – currently the leading French player on the Race to Dubai – delighted the home fans at Le Golf National with a birdie on the last to sit one shot off the lead alongside American Kurt Kitayama and Scotland’s Richie Ramsay.

Benjamin Hebert said: “I putted very well today. I’ve worked on my putting since the start of the week.

“I had a private lesson with David Orr, who is a big putting expert. We changed some stuff and it works very well. So, I’m pretty happy.

“I feel good support from the French public. We have only one tournament a year, so it’s very important for us to represent this week.”

Ramsay has been fighting issues over spending time away from his young daugher over the past couple of seasons – the 35-year-old Scot only secured his card in the last event of 2018, and has spoken about possibly retiring at 40, or at least taking a whole year out of the game.

“It’s obviously a fantastic golf course. A little bit different this year. A bit colder, a bit softer, so the course is playing quite long,” said Ramsay whose best result of the season is tied for sixth in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

“It’s a joy to play a golf course like this, because it just tests the whole part of your game and mentally, obviously there’s a lot of water out there, so you have to be very committed to your shots,” Ramsay added.

Victor Perez became the latest player from France to win on the European Tour when he took the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship title last month.

And the Dundee-based Frenchman is just two shots off the lead at four under, alongside South African trio Darren Fichardt, Jaco Van Zyl and Justin Walters, plus Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, Denmark’s Nicolai Hogaard and Kalle Samooja, from Finland.

•For live scoring in the French Open click here.

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Scot Stephen Gallacher claimed his first win in five years at the age of 44 at the Hero Indian Open. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

STEPHEN Gallacher birdied three of his last four holes to produce a stunning comeback and win his first European Tour title in five years at the Hero Indian Open.

The Scot had shared the first round lead but a second round 74 saw him slip back and his chances looked doomed when he made a quadruple bogey eight on the seventh hole on Sunday.

The lead kept moving backwards on a windy day at DLF Golf and Country Club, but as he stood on the 15th tee, Gallacher still looked an outside bet facing one of the toughest closing stretches on the Race to Dubai because of that snowman on the seventh.

The 2014 Ryder Cup star knows a thing or two about performing under pressure, however.

And he took advantage of the par five before hitting stunning approaches into the 17th and last to claim his first win since the second of back to back Omega Dubai Desert Classic titles in 2014.

On Mother’s Day back in his native Scotland, it was a father and son show in New Delhi, with son Jack caddying for Gallacher this season in what is likely to be a permanent move for the duo.

A closing 71 moved the 44-year-old to nine-under and gave him a one-shot win over Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura, with Spaniard Jorge Campillo a further shot back.

A delighted Gallacher said: “Today the wind was swirling and the course was playing really tough.

“I was three behind the lead at the start of the day and got off to quite a solid start and then I hit a quadruple-bogey on hole seven. I was pretty calm at that point of time, I stood on the eighth tee and saw I was only five shots behind.

“I told myself to stick to the game and you never know what can happen. Especially with how hard it was playing and I came back three-under in the last four holes.

“I thought, ‘just hang in there’. When I birdied 15 I saw that Julian Suri had come back and then when I got to the 16th green I was tied for the lead. I just tried to finish as strong as I could, and I did that.

“Thankfully it was enough. I am 45 this year so I am really proud of what I did out here today. It changes my schedule and I can play a bit less and it was great to win with my son Jack on the bag.

“He has caddied for me 20 events already. It has been a great day. It was great to have him on the bag and Mother’s Day as well makes it even more special.”

Masahiro Kawamura, who has one win to his name on the Asian Tour back in 2013, admitted feeling nervous coming down the stretch. He said: “The round was very good especially in such tough conditions.

“I wasn’t playing very well in the front nine and was struggling on a lot of the holes and I had some missed shots, but the back nine I played very well.

“The course was tough today, but I managed to come back.

“Coming into the last two holes and seeing my name on the leaderboad, I was really nervous,” said the Asian Tour winner, who claimed the 11^th card at the European Tour School, in November, at Spain’s Lumine GC.

Kawamura added: “I knew how important the final hole was and I hit a good shot but was just unlucky.

“Last year I finished second three times on the Japan Tour, lost by one shot twice and once in a play-off. Now I finished second by one shot this time again.”

American Julian Suri had led by three after 12 holes but produced a quadruple bogey of his own on the treacherous 14th to slip back, and he finished alongside South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout at six-under.

Bezuidenhout made six birdies and two bogeys in a 68 that handed him a third top 10 in four events and he finished three shots off the lead, one ahead of fellow South Africans George Coetzee and Erik van Rooyen, Spaniard Nacho Elvira and Hertfordshire’s Callum Shinkwin.

Finn Kalle Samooja made the third hole-in-one of the week with a pitching wedge from 139 yards on the 12th for the eighth ace of the season.

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A second successive 67 by New Yorker Julian Suri sees the Made in Denmark winner top of leaderboard at the Hero Indian Open. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

JULIAN Suri fired a second consecutive round of 67 to take a two-shot lead into the weekend at the Hero Indian Open.

The American was heading home on Friday night 12 months ago at DLF Golf and Country Club after posting 76-82… but he was 24 shots better off than that this time around at 10-under par.

Suri is playing just his second event of the season after undergoing surgery on an abdominal hernia.

But the New Yorker showed he was in fine health in New Delhi, picking up six shots in as many holes from the first to surge clear in the morning session.

Suri said: “I put the foot down, but I had the same mindset I had really on the first nine.

“I hit it really well the whole day and I just tried to free it up a little bit on the second nine with my putting.

“I hit a lot of good shots and gave myself a ton of chances on the first nine and none of them dropped, particularly with speed and not hitting them hard enough.

“So, just try to free it up and putt with feel like I normally do.

“I am hitting quite a few drivers. Driver is probably the most comfortable club in the bag for me so I am being pretty aggressive and with the greens being somewhat softer than what they were last year.

“I am coming into the greens with a lot of wedges and pitch shots and stuff, so you can score when you are in a good spot.

“I’ve been playing well, and I knew I was playing well even though the score didn’t show it after the first nine, so just had to keep plugging away and staying patient.”

South African George Coetzee finished his round with three birdies to sit at eight-under alongside Swede Robert Karlsson, who ended his day with gains on the 17th and 18th.

Karlsson, who made back-to-back eagles in the first round said: “It was good. I got off to a really good start.

“I was a bit lucky on the fourth, the pin was in a tricky position but I hit a good shot and it just rolled up behind the green and came back to just a foot. So it ended up being a gimme eagle.

“But there was some very good stuff and I am happy with a couple of birdies to finish off.

“I haven’t been in this position for a long time, so I am staying very humble over the weekend.

“I am just trying to do what I am doing, and pretty much looking at this golf course as just a great test to see what I need to do better.

“I’ve worked hard on my game over the last half year, changed coach (Hans Larsson) and things like that, so it feels like I am heading forward.

“But on this golf course a lot of things can happen quickly and even if it does, I am still showing signs, I have put in a bunch of good rounds lately.”

Coetzee who is looking for his first win since last year’s Tshwane Open, said: “Obviously a little easier today then what I have been playing this course back in the past, but I had fun today, hit some really nice shots and made some nice putts.

“It didn’t look like it was going to be birdie-birdie-birdie finish after my tee shot on 15. But I got my head back in a good space and hit some good shots from there.

“I really enjoy the course, it’s probably one of the prettiest courses we play, and the greens are amazing so there is nothing to complain about.

“I will just take it as it comes and try and stay positive and play golf.”

Hertfordshire’s Callum Shinkwin, from Moor Park, and Australian Scott Hend were then at seven-under after firing the only bogey free rounds of the week so far.

Fifty-three-year old Thai Prayad Marksaeng was at six-under, a shot clear of Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura and Sri Lankan N Thangaraja, with Finn Mikko Korhonen, Scot Richie Ramsay, England’s Robert Rock and Austrian Matthias Schwab six shots off the lead.

There were two holes-in-one on Friday – taking the season’s tally to seven – as Om Pratash Chouhan holed a six-iron on the fifth and Daniel Nisbet holed a four-iron on the third.

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