On his first trip to Mauritius and treating it as a belated honeymoon with his wife, Jennifer, Pepperell produced a strong finish of four birdies in his final five holes to lead by one over Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen, who signed for a bogey-free 67.

“It’s the first time me and Jennifer have been here. We really love it. We’re staying in a lovely hotel. I said to her before we came out here to treat it as a bit of a honeymoon because we haven’t had one since our wedding in August,” said Pepperell.

The English professional overcame a bogey at the second and produced a string of birdies thereafter, including that strong finish in some windy and testing conditions.

Birdie
Birdie
Birdie@PepperellEddie finishes in style to lead by one shot after round one in Mauritius. #AfrAsiaBankMauritiusOpen pic.twitter.com/piHPSJ7DBI
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) December 19, 2024

“I’m pleased with that. I wasn’t expecting it. After bogeying the second hole I was worried it was going to be one of those Thursdays again. But I turned it around nicely and played very well. I had a good finish. I just told myself, ‘Keep your head down and let it happen’. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a position where I’m at the top of the leaderboard on a Thursday.”

It was a positive start by the double DP World Tour champion, who admits he had to stay in the present when his game was flowing – particularly on that closing stretch.

“Sometimes it can get in your head, but I just tried to keep my head down and focus and keep doing what I’ve been working on in the range. This year there have been so many rounds I’ve played where things have deteriorated and I’ve become increasingly frustrated, and the difference today was my game held up.

“Clearly what I’ve been working on has been good, so if I can just keep doing it in tough conditions then I’m optimistic. This golf course is really tricky, especially in the wind. This course needs the wind and you can easily make some high numbers around here. It’s deceptive.”

Olesen was equally pleased with his start as he seeks to emulate fellow Dane Rasmus Højgaard, who won this tournament in 2019.

Jacob Olesen shares his thoughts after shooting an opening round bogey free 67 at @MC_Le_Golf.#AfrAsiaBankMauritiusOpen pic.twitter.com/5KmomtTtZL
— AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open (@AfrAsiaMRUOpen) December 19, 2024

“It went pretty well. I’m happy about the game. I feel like everything was solid. There wasn’t one particular thing that was really good, but there was also nothing that was bad. I hit some good iron shots and rolled in a couple of decent putts. It was a good start. The wind is definitely a factor here. You’ve got to switch your mindset a little bit and just take your medicine sometimes and play what you get from the wind.”

Italian Renato Paratore, Denmark’s Hamish Brown, Norway’s Andreas Halvorsen and South Africans Jacques Blaauw, Wilco Nienaber and Jayden Schaper are all well placed just two shots off the lead.

How it stands after 18 holes played in Mauritius. 🇲🇺 #AfrAsiaBankMauritiusOpen #ABMO2024 #SunshineTour #DPWorldTour pic.twitter.com/PAefoYHk2e
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) December 19, 2024

SCORES

66 - Eddie Pepperell

67 - Jacob Olesen

68 - Renato Paratore, Jacques Blaauw, Wilco Nienaber, Jayden Schaper, Andreas Halvorsen, Hamish Brown

69 - Scott Jamieson, Ben Schmidt, Christo Lamprecht, Andrea Pavan, Benjamin Hebert, JJ Senekal, Davis Bryant, Ivan Cantero

70 - Louis de Jager, Deon Germishuys, Mikael Lindberg, Dylan Naidoo, James Morrison, Niklas Lemke, Sebastian Garcia, John Parry, Luke Brown, Anthony Michael

71 - Nikhil Rama, Jovan Rebula, Pierre Pineau, Benjamin Follett-Smith, Joel Moscatel, Ryan Van Velzen, Marcel Siem, Pierre Pellegrin, Jack Senior, Joakim Lagergren, Louis Albertse, Rupert Kaminski, Albert Boneta, Casey Jarvis, Jean Hugo, Jonathan Broomhead, Trevor Fisher Jnr, Oliver Lindell, Marcel Schneider, Tiger Christensen

72 - Christiaan Burke, Angel Ayora, Marcus Kinhult, Kieran Vincent, Sean Crocker, Luke Jerling, Nicolai Kristensen, Wynand Dingle, Hennie O'Kennedy, Adri Arnaus, Daniel van Tonder, Robin Williams, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen, Pieter Moolman, Ricky Hendler

73 - Callum Mowat, Neil Schietekat, Brandon Robinson Thompson, Santiago Tarrio, Justin Harding, David Ravetto, Keegan Mclachlan, MJ Viljoen, Justin Walters, Michael Hollick, Alexander Levy, Thomas Aiken, Jason Roets, Oihan Guillamoundeguy, Lucas Bjerregaard, Zihao Jin, Altin van der Merwe, Tadeas Tetak

74 - Sam Hutsby, Martin Vorster, Toto Thimba Jnr, Dayne Moore, David Law, Yurav Premlall, Keenan Davidse, Matthew Southgate, Otto Van Buynder, Freddy Schott, Alexander Frances, Filip Mruzek, Dylan Mostert, Jacques Kruyswijk, Clement Sordet, Antoine Rozner, Gary Hurley, Corey Shaun, Heinrich Bruiners, Kristoffer Reitan, James Mack, Max Rottluff, Felix Mory

75 - Jbe Kruger, Jean Bekirian, Keelan van Wyk, Daniel Brown, Tyran Snyders, Peter Karmis, Jacques P de Villiers, Robson Chinhoi, Ross Fisher, Martin Couvra, Richard Sterne, CJ du Plessis, Gregorio De Leo, Malcolm Mitchell, MK Kim

76 - Nicolas Colsaerts, Jens Fahbring, Daniel Gale, Kyle Barker, Wenyi Ding, Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen, Matthew Spacey, Rourke van der Spuy, Danie Van Niekerk, Jean-Paul Strydom

77 - Stuart Krog, Bjorn Akesson, Werner Deyzel, Ruan Korb, Quintin Wilsnach, Oliver Bekker, Jack Hawksby

78 - Conor Purcell, Herman Loubser, Estiaan Conradie, Lyle Rowe, Hennie Otto, Gavin Green, Dan Erickson, Albert Venter, Tristin Galant, Wooyoung Cho, Graham van der Merwe

79 - Kyle De Beer, Joshua Berry, Keith Horne, Inhoi Hur, Bastien Amat

80 - Wil Besseling, Gabriel Le Court De Billot, Danny List

81 - Jake Redman, Richard Mansell

89 - Ethan Smith