South Africa’s Casey Jarvis and American Ryan Gerard will head into Sunday’s final round of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open tied for the lead and each chasing a goal that will bring a sweet end to their year.
The duo head this field on 16 under par, one stroke clear of France’s Alexander Levy and two clear of the in-form Jayden Schaper from South Africa.
Jarvis has led or shared the lead from the first round and kept his place with a 68 on Saturday. Gerard surged through the field with a 63 that featured a back nine of 30.
The young South African came into this event having won twice in three tournaments on the Sunshine Tour, and now feeling confident enough to challenge for a maiden DP World Tour title.
“I love it. I’ve won two events on the Sunshine Tour, and that gives me confidence for this final round. I’m really looking forward to it, and to being in the final group on the DP World Tour for a change. It’s going to be fun,” he said.
Alongside him, Gerard is also relishing the final-round battle to come.
“I made the most of an opportunity to go and get it today. I’m looking forward to the challenge. My caddie, JP, said we’re coming here to have fun but not just to whack it around – we’re coming here with intent,” said Gerard, whose goal is firmly on a win that should carry him into the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking before the end of the year and secure him a Masters invite for next year.
“That’s the reason I flew a long way to come here and hopefully punch a ticket to The Masters. That’s the goal. Competing in pressure situations are the most fun you can have as a professional golfer. I’m someone who loves competing and hates losing. If I win, I’m sure I’ll have a chance to go and play at Augusta National come April.”
But Gerard rightly pointed out a quality group of players near the top of the leaderboard and a golf course where anything can still happen in the final round as elements to be cautious of.
Levy is one of those players just one shot behind them and playing some of the best golf of his career while loving every minute of it.
And Schaper’s win in last week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship has opened the floodgates on his own confidence going into the final round just two shots adrift.
“You want to be in the mix on the final day. I just had so much fun out there and it was nice to make a move up the leaderboard,” he said.
SCORES
200 - Ryan Gerard 68 69 63
200 - Casey Jarvis 67 65 68
201 - Alexander Levy 68 66 67
202 - Jayden Schaper 69 69 64
204 - Manuel Elvira 68 67 69
205 - Tobias Jonsson 72 66 67
205 - John Parry 70 68 67, Michael Hollick 73 65 67
206 - Andreas Halvorsen 69 72 65
206 - Marcel Schneider 72 68 66, Daniel van Tonder 71 68 67
207 - Hennie du Plessis 72 67 68
207 - Brandon Stone 68 68 71
208 - Marcel Siem 73 67 68
208 - Anthony Quayle 68 71 69, Tom Vaillant 72 67 69
209 - Hugo Townsend 69 71 69
210 - Adri Arnaus 70 70 70
210 - Jovan Rebula 73 67 70, Eugenio Chacarra 72 68 70, Oihan Guillamoundeguy 71 69 70, Francesco Laporta 71 67 72
211 - Jonathan Broomhead 75 68 68
211 - Daniel Brown 71 72 68, Renato Paratore 74 69 68, Kieran Vincent 75 68 68, JC Ritchie 74 69 68, Marcus Armitage 72 69 70, Zander Lombard 72 68 71
212 - Joakim Lagergren 69 73 70
212 - Jack Senior 73 68 71, Oliver Lindell 72 69 71, Alex Fitzpatrick 69 71 72, MJ Daffue 69 70 73, Angel Ayora 71 68 73, Scott Jamieson 67 72 73, Herman Loubser 68 69 75, Dylan Frittelli 68 69 75
213 - Wilco Nienaber 71 72 70
213 - Andrea Pavan 73 69 71, Christo Lamprecht 71 70 72
214 - Julien Sale 77 67 70
214 - Frederico Biondi Figueiredo 76 68 70, Niklas Lemke 73 70 71, Shubhankar Sharma 74 69 71, Nathan Kimsey 72 71 71, Gregorio De Leo 73 67 74
215 - Mikael Lindberg 76 68 71
215 - Lyle Rowe 70 72 73, Rocco Repetto 70 72 73, Nick Bachem 72 70 73, Jeff Winther 71 70 74
216 - Luke Jerling 71 73 72
216 - Clement Sordet 71 73 72, Eddie Pepperell 74 68 74, Clément Charmasson 72 69 75
217 - Michael Feuerstein 73 71 73
218 - Christiaan Burke 76 68 74
218 - Jordan Burnand 76 68 74, Quim Vidal 70 74 74, Marcus Kinhult 74 69 75
219 - Cameron Adam 72 72 75
220 - Nikhil Rama 72 72 76
221 - Quintin Wilsnach 73 69 79
221 - Keagan Thomas 73 69 79
222 - Dylan Naidoo 76 67 79
Missed the cut:-
145 - Ben Schmidt 75 70
145 - Martin Vorster 76 69, Jack Hawksby 75 70, Ryan Peake 76 69, Deon Germishuys 74 71, Jamie Rutherford 73 72, Albin Bergstrom 74 71, Pierre Viallaneix 72 73, Aaron Cockerill 77 68, Ross Fisher 74 71, Benjamin Van Wyk 73 72
146 - Samuel Simpson 78 68
146 - Sebastian Garcia 72 74, Brandon Robinson Thompson 73 73, Ryan Van Velzen 71 75, Joe Dean 77 69, Austin Bautista 76 70, Quentin Debove 76 70, Benjamin Follett-Smith 73 73
147 - Ryggs Johnston 77 70
147 - Jacques P de Villiers 75 72, MJ Viljoen 77 70, Rhys Enoch 73 74, Joe Long 73 74, Kieron van Wyk 73 74, Stals Swart 76 71, Adam Blomme 74 73, Keenan Davidse 76 71, Yurav Premlall 75 72, Stefano Mazzoli 78 69, Joshua Berry 77 70
148 - Nicolas Colsaerts 79 69
148 - Jack Buchanan 73 75, Richard Sterne 76 72, Jacques Blaauw 76 72, Jason Roets 76 72
149 - Kyle Barker 73 76
149 - Dylan Mostert 77 72, Mike Toorop 74 75, Gerhard Pepler 80 69, Connor Mckinney 73 76, David Ravetto 79 70, Matthew Baldwin 78 71, Neil Schietekat 76 73, Felix Mory 81 68, Hennie Otto 76 73, Robin Williams 76 73, Louis Albertse 77 72, Daniel Rodrigues 72 77
150 - Ivan Cantero 79 71
150 - George Coetzee 77 73, Todd Clements 76 74, Ruan Korb 76 74, Jean-Paul Strydom 74 76, Altin van der Merwe 80 70, Dominic Foos 75 75, Jacob Olesen 73 77, Ricky Hendler 71 79, Luis Carrera 80 70, Pieter Moolman 79 71
151 - Wynand Dingle 76 75
151 - Toto Thimba Jnr 78 73, Sadom Kaewkanjana 80 71, Tyran Snyders 79 72, Franklin Manchest 71 80, Hunter Logan 77 74
152 - Warwick Purchase 75 77
152 - Euan Walker 77 75
153 - Rowan Lester 82 71
153 - Pierre Pellegrin 81 72, Tyrone Ryan 78 75, Davis Bryant 80 73
154 - Oliver Bekker 75 79
155 - Rupert Kaminski 80 75
155 - Malcolm Mitchell 79 76
156 - CJ du Plessis 79 77
156 - Rhys West 79 77, Jacquin Hess 80 76, Andres German Gallegos 80 76
157 - James Mack 82 75
157 - Bjorn Akesson 81 76
158 - Ryan van der Klis 79 79
158 - Kyle De Beer 79 79
161 - Xander Basson 81 80
162 - Stephen Ferreira 82 80
163 - Jack Yule 84 79
WDN - Jens Dantorp 80 WDN
RTD - Marcus Sandile Taylor RTD RTD, Robson Chinhoi 81 RTD, Allen John 80 RTD