Following last weekend’s weather-impacted Alfred Dunhill Championship, one where a deluge of rain saw Royal Johannesburg doing its best impression of a set from ‘Waterworld’, the European Tour leaves mainland Africa in the rearview mirror this week, as it swaps the middle of Johannesburg for the middle of the Indian Ocean for this week’s AfrAsia Bank Open – specifically, the paradisiacal surroundings of the Heritage La Réserve Golf Links on the island nation of Mauritius.

Sitting in the shadow of Madagascar, and boasting a population just below that of Dublin, the field making the trip to Mauritius this week couldn’t ask for a more idyllic setting in which to see out the end of the season for 2025. But this week isn’t about having a holiday. It’s about ‘Race to Dubai’ points. It’s about getting some much-needed money into the coffers ahead of next season. And it’s about giving one final push before taking the time to rest and recuperate until the International Swing in January.

In the links at Heritage La Réserve, though, those aforementioned points and euros won’t be so easily won.

Designed by Peter Matkovich and the 2010 Open winner, Louis Oosthuizen, La Réserve opened in 2023 and immediately hosted that year’s AfrAsia Mauritius Open – a tournament where Oosthuizen took the idea of “local knowledge” to a whole new level by winning the whole bloody thing.

Sticking religiously to what one could only believe was their design brief, La Réserve is a picturesque links course very much inspired by those tracks we’re spoiled to have in such abundance here in Ireland and Scotland. Undulating fairways that sweep and flow with the hilly terrain. Challenging green complexes surrounded by treacherous swales and hollows. Unforgivingly deep pot bunkers with revetted faces. Long, unforgiving rough to punish those who wander too far off line with their tee shots or approaches. And elevation changes that keep your caddie on his toes when it comes to pulling clubs – especially in the wind.

It’s a course where you need to be creative. It’s a course where you need to be able to shape the ball. And it’s a course where you need to be able to flight the ball. In short, it’s a course that only channels the original ethos and vision those early pioneers had for the game, but embraces it.

 

ORACLES’ FOURBALL

JAYDEN SCHAPER

Normally, I’m always loath to expect anything in the way of spectacular results from someone who won the previous week. And when that same win just so happens to be their very first on tour? Well, those expectations drop all the lower due to the emotional hangover such an achievement tends to have on a player.

Because getting yourself mentally ready to get back out on the course and compete with the same level of ferocity that saw you bag that win in the first place is no mean feat. And if you were in Schaper’s position? Well, you wouldn’t blame him if he was already eyeing up a well-deserved break after what has been an incredibly successful run of form – one in which he has earned close to a million euros since the DP World India Championship back in October.

But with last week’s Alfred Dunhill cut to 54-holes due to the weather, I still think there’s some golf left in Jayden before this year yields to 2026. And given that he put in such a great performance at La Réserve back in 2023, posting a solo 6th-place finish that could’ve been far higher were it not for a disappointing second round, he knows that he possesses the ability to go out there and score around this course.

And do you know what’s better than bagging your first win on Tour?

Bagging your second.

 

DANIEL VAN TONDER

Though his unique swing mannerisms tend to garner a lot of attention in a world obsessed with anything even remotely outside the norm, don’t let that distract you from the fact that Daniel Van Tonder is a seriously talented player.

An eight-time winner on the Sunshine Tour, with a European Tour title under his belt, too, in the shape of the 2021 Kenya Savannah Classic, Van Tonder has repeatedly shown that he possesses that killer instinct to get the job done when his game puts him in a position to win. And when you see how that very same ‘game’ at the moment is coupling both distance and accuracy off the tee (41st & 49th respectively in Driving Distance & Driving Accuracy), with hitting a lot of greens (38th in GIR%), it’s little wonder that Daniel has been in such a great run of form recently, with a T-10 and T-14 in the last two weeks alone.

So, when I see Van Tonder’s ability to shape the ball and the fact that his swing just seems tailor-made to perform well in the wind, if he can get his putter going on those Dynasty Paspalum greens (i.e. proper links course grass,  there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be eyeing up a second European Tour win this week.

 

MIKAEL LINDBERG

Part of the first group out to take to the links this week at La Réserve, Mikael will be looking to capitalise on his T-14 finish at the Alfred Dunhill last week with another good showing here.

One of the biggest hitters on tour (4th in Driving Distance last season, currently 1st), Lindberg capped off something of a mixed bag of a 2025 with five top-20 finishes from his last eight events (three of which were top-10s). And though not enough to see him make it to the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, his overall showing for the year was a decent 67th place in the Race to Dubai.

But when you possess the length off the tee that he has, Mikael should be aiming for better than that. And whilst his Driving Accuracy % and GIR% let him down (167th & 123rd respectively last season), when those aspects of his game are going well, he’s shown that he can contend.

So, when I see him finishing in a tie for 5th at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship just a few short months ago across Carnoustie, Kingsbarn, and the Old Course, if I’m Mikael this week, I’m seeing this as a golden opportunity. Because he knows that he can perform well on links courses. We’ve seen that now. Therefore, with his distance off the tee seeing him perfectly set up to take advantage of the large elevation changes that La Réserve has – an advantage that could see him drastically shorten the course for himself – then with his putter cooperating to the same degree that it did last week in Johannesburg, Lindberg could absolutely be one to watch in Mauritius. And, especially so, if he capitalises on the calm conditions his early start could see him gifted with. The early bird and whatnot.

 

ANGEL AYORA

One of the most exciting prospects on the European Tour, the 21-year-old Angel Ayora was a revelation in his rookie season this past year. Posting a 20th-place finish in the ‘Race to Dubai’, mainly thanks to an incredible run of seven top-10s in his last eleven events, you could make the argument that Angel was unlucky to miss out on the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award to Martin Couvra, but such is life.

Long off the tee (10th in Driving Distance last season, currently 7th) and accurate with his irons (25th in GIR% last season, currently 23rd), if Ayora can heat up his putter on a more consistent basis, then he’s going to be a real problem for everybody this season – never mind this week.

So, though only finishing in an underwhelming tie for 46th last week in Johannesburg, given the young Spaniard’s T-8 finish the week before at the Nedbank, I’d reckon he’s in decent form heading to Mauritius. And having seen Jayden Schaper finally claim his maiden title last week, if Angel possesses the character that I think he does? I’d only see that as further confirmation that his time, too, will come.

And what better time than now?