Port Louis (Mauritius), Dec 22: Jayden Schaper produced an electric finish with a chip-in eagle in the second play-off hole at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open to grab his second title in as many starts beating American Ryan Gerard by the proverbial whisker.
They were tied at 22-under after four days, with both playing amazing golf to tame the challenging La Reserve Golf Links over the final two rounds.
On Sunday (December 21) Schaper shot 64-64, while Gerard had 63-66 over the final two rounds. In the play-off both parred the 18th the first time around, and then on the second trip, Schaper suddenly ended the battle with a chip-in for eagle, leaving Gerard stunned and without an answer.
Through the day Schaper was never found wanting when it came
to great golf shots, but after a mind-boggling win, he was almost short on words.
"I don't even know what to say. That's just such an insane way to finish a tournament," he said, after hugging his mother, who was there to watch the amazing sight.
With his family next to him, he ensured a great holiday season. "I could not have asked for anything better. Christmas is going to be good this year, and New Year. It's just unreal. "
Shubhankar Sharma had a bunch of birdies and an eagle on the final day of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, but he also gave away a lot of bogeys and carded 3-under 69. He totalled 5-under with cards of 74-69-71-69 and finished Tied-32nd.
Meanwhile South African Jayden Schaper produced an electric finish with a chip-in eagle in the second play-off hole at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open to grab his second title in as many starts beating American Ryan Gerard by a whisker.
Starting on the tenth at the challenging La Reserve Links, which was hosting the event for the second time, Sharma opened with a birdie but gave back the shot on the next hole. He then had a fine run of birdie-eagle-birdie to show signs of a good finish. However, a bogey on Par-5 15th spoilt the momentum. It was the third time in four days that Sharma dropped a shot at the hole.
He birdied the 18th but bogeyed the fourth and then after another birdie on the sixth, he had a double bogey on the Paer-3 seventh. A birdie on the eighth was a consolation.
"My game is coming around, but this week I just did not hit well off the tee. Every time things started moving my way, I gave away some shots. But still I feel things are slowly falling into place," said Sharma, who recently got his playing rights back by finishing second in the DP World Tour Q-School.
Sharma is now hoping to get into some of the events in the gulf, including the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and Bahrain.
For Schaper it was a second win in as many weeks and his last three results have been 2nd-1st-1st First as he gets his 2026 DP World Tour season to a brilliant start. Before his win at Alfred Dunhill last week Schaper was tied second at the Nedbank Golf Challenge and has now comfortably won the Opening Swing of the DP World Tour.
Gerard travelled almost 10,000 miles to come in from Florida to Heritage Resorts' La Reserve Links seeking a win and a passage to the Masters. He failed ever so narrowly to win, but his runner-up finish will suffice to get him into the Top-50 from 57th, where he started the week. That ensured him an invitation and a tee time at Augusta National in April. Gerard earlier this year won the Barracuda Championship, co-sanctioned by the PGA and the DP World Tour.
Earlier in the day, the duo broke away from a pack that had seemed tightly to bunched to make it a near match play. Schaper, starting the final day two behind overnight leaders Gerard and Casey Jarvis, produced a birdie-birdie-eagle run from the third to the fifth. He turned in 4-under but behind him Gerard, too, was 4-under for the front nine.
Schaper's fast start with back-to-back birdies from long range at the third and fourth set the tone and two great shots on the fifth gave him a five-foot putt for an eagle and he grabbed it to join the lead on 18 under. But then Gerard produced his own magic to move ahead yet again.
Schaper made a couple of important par saves to keep his card clean but Gerard produced his own magic with four front nine birdies. That meant Schaper trailed by two before reducing the deficit to one with a birdie at the 11th.
On the back nine, as the others like Jarvis (71 and Alexander Levy (73) fell off, the 24-year-oold Schaper birdied the 11th and Gerard the 12th. That still kept Gerard two ahead, before Schaper produced back-to-back birdies on the 15th and the 16th to join Gerard at 21-under.
Schaper did not stop there. Another birdie on the 18th meant Gerard also needed a birdie to force a play-off. Gerard produced a brilliant second shot and went on to birdie the 18th making a tricky up and down from a difficult position.
In the ensuing play-off, both parred the first time before Schaper produced a block-buster eagle to seal his second win.
Schaper gushed, "The last three weeks have been incredible.
"It's been such a great week, such an awesome place, the support, the golf course. From start to finish. I wait five years for the first (title) and then the following week (to get the second) is so cool. "
Jarvis, who had at least a share of the lead for the first three days managed only a 71 with three birdies making it tough for him, as he just could not find the momentum. As Schaper and Gerard made it a two-horse race, Jarvis shot 71 and ended five shots back in the third place at 17-under,.
Andreas Halvorsen, who shot 7-under in the third had another great round with a bogey-free 6-under 66. He finished fourth at 16-under.
Zander Lombard had the best round of the week at 10-under 62, but after a comparatively modest first three days with 72-68-71, he totalled 15-under and was tied fifth with the 2024 champion John Parry (68).
Alexander Levy, who came here this week on a sponsor's invite, faltered with a 73 after three great days that saw him shoot 68-66-67 and he was Tied-seventh with Spaniard Manuel Elvira (70) at 14-under.
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