The Punter's In-Play Blog: Pepperell Sets The Pace

England’s Eddie Pepperell shows the way after day one of the Mauritius Open and our man’s back with his initial in-running thoughts on this week’s DP World Tour action here…

Favourite Struggles On Day One

There was a differential in the scoring of only 0.38 of a stroke between the two sides of the draw on day one of the Mauritius Open, with the morning wave averaging 73.38 compared to the 73.76 averaged by the PM wave, but it’s not quite as simple as that.

The wind blew really hard in the early afternoon, with Matt Cooper, who’s in attendance this week, describing the wind as “seriously strong at times” and he went on to say:

“I’m not sure I’ve seen so many players on a course hitting from, or looking for balls, so far away from fairways.”

The pre-event favourite, Antoine Rozner, who was one of the afternoon starters, began his opening round nicely enough, parring the first and birdying the tough second, but he looked extremely uncomfortable on the third green, backing off a short birdie putt before eventually missing it in the most unconvincing fashion. It was no surprise to see him play the next seven holes in four-over-par in the worst of the weather.

The breeze did die down fractionally as the afternoon wore on, and after a string of seven straight pars, the Frenchman birdied the last to post a two-over-par 74. However, trailing the early leader, Eddie Pepperell, by eight, he’s got his work cut out if he’s to figure over the weekend.

Pepperell Overcomes Windy Afternoon To Lead

Pepperell was also drawn on the wrong side of the draw, but he finished his round in fine style, birdying four of his last five holes, including this brilliant chip in at 16.

Trading at 10.0, Pepperell is the new favourite, and given he’s won three of the seven events in which he’s led after round one (twice on the DP World Tour and once on the Challenge Tour), that price looks fair.

Those victories were a long time ago now though, and Pepperell needs to win to regain his playing privileges on the DP World Tour. There’s a chance the pressure might get to the 33-year-old, and there’s a couple of youngsters that I prefer after round one.

Two Youngsters Backed After Round One

Matt’s each-way fancy, Hamish Brown, looks a bit big at 25.0 given the two-time Challenge Tour winner is just two off the lead, and I was happy to take a very small chance on the young American, Davis Bryant, who sits on -3.

Like his compatriot, Ryggs Johnson, the 24-year-old gained his card via the Qualifying School in Spain last month, and he may well be inspired by Johnson’s victory at the Australian Open three weeks ago.