Coetzee beats Olesen in Mauritius Playoff

South Africa’s George Coetzee beat Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark at the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at Heritage Golf Club in Domaine de Bel Ombre.

South Africa’s George Coetzee beat Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark at the second hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the inaugural AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at Heritage Golf Club in Domaine de Bel Ombre.

Coetzee made three straight birdies on the 18th hole at Heritage Golf Club to deny Olesen a victory on his return to competitive action following a hand injury. The South African made a four on the par-5 to match Olesen’s 72-hole total of 13-under-par then made two further birdies on the home hole in the playoff to secure his third European Tour title.

Coetzee began the final day one ahead of Olesen and another South African Thomas Aiken. But the 28-year-old started the final round in fine fashion and, with birdies at the 2nd, 3rd and 5th holes, he pulled three strokes clear of the field.

But the South African, already a winner on the 2015 European tour in the Tshwane Open, came back to the field after driving out-of-bounds at the 7th. By the start of the back nine, Olesen had drawn level at the top of the leaderboard.

By the time Coetzee reached the 72nd hole, he needed a birdie to tie with Olesen. Keeping his composure he found the par-5 green in two and two-putted for his four.

Returning to the 18th for the playoff, both Coetzee and Olesen birdied the hole at the first time of asking. On the second extra hole, only Coetzee could find the birdie and the trophy was his.

“I actually felt more nervous during the day [than the playoff] and I’m happy to have pulled through it,” said Coetzee. “Thorbjørn did unbelievably well to put pressure on me the whole day. I actually had to work to catch him in the end.”

Mardan Mamat of Singapore produced an excellent final round of 67 to end the week alone in third, one ahead of Thomas Aiken who was fourth.

John Parry was the best-placed British player in Mauritius. The Englishman finished in a tie for fifth place.

AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open Heritage GC, Domaine de Bel Ombre, Mauritius May 7-10 Purse: $1,000,000, par 71

1    George Coetzee (RSA)    70    67    65    69    271    €166,660 2    Thorbjorn Olesen (Den)    65    68    70    68    271    €111,110 3    Mardan Mamat (Sin)    69    69    67    67    272    €62,600 4    Thomas Aiken (RSA)    69    66    68    70    273    €50,000 T5    Scott Hend (Aus)        72    66    70    66    274    €35,800 T5    Masahiro Kawamura (Jap) 68 69    71    66    274    €35,800 T5    John Parry (Eng)        67    70    71    66    274    €35,800 T8    Oliver Bekker (RSA)    66    71    71    68    276    €22,467 T8    Merrick Bremner (RSA)    71    70    66    69    276    €22,467 T8    Bernd Ritthammer (Ger) 71    70    68    67    276    €22,467

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

Thorbjorn Olesen swing sequence: