Mauritius Open: Shubhankar Sharma drops late shots on tough scoring day at challenging La Reserve; Jarvis, Jamieson share lead

Port Louis, (Mauritius), Dec 19: Shubhankar Sharma, who lost and regained his DP Worth Tour card in a matter of weeks with a stellar performance in the Qualifying School, experienced agony and ecstasy

in the opening round of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.

Sharma, who finished runner-up in the Q-School to regain status on the DP World Tour, seemed to be coping well with the tricky winds which were accompanied by rain at the highly challenging La Reserve Links, which is hosting the event for the second time.

Sharma was 1-under through 13 holes, when he literally hit a rough patch with a bogey followed by a double bogey to drop three shots in two holes. He ended at 2-over for the day and was Tied-71st for the first day.

Overall Sharma had three birdies, three bogeys, all of which came on Par-5s, and a double bogey on the 16th, where he failed to come out of the rough with his first attempt.

"I knew the conditions were going to be tough, but that's what you expect here. Yet, it is an amazing course, scenic and challenging to play," said Sharma, who in 2017 finished T-27 in Mauritius and a week later he won his maiden DP World Tour event in Joburg Open. "This is my first time at La Reserve but I have good memories of Mauritius," he added.

There were plenty of opportunities on the front side of the alluring La Reserve but there was also lots to be worried about at the breathtakingly beautiful golf course co-designed by Louis Oosthuizen and Pete Matkovich.

The course kept asking questions and kept demanding skilful play, and the golfers for their part tried to provide answers as best as they could. Only 33 golfers played under par.

On a tough opening day with wind and rain, through the day, South Africa's Casey Jarvis and Scotland's Scott Jamieson rose to the top for the shared clubhouse lead with rounds of five-under-par 67 each.

Jamieson had eight birdies against one bogey and one double bogey, while Jarvis had two eagles, four birdies, one bogey and one double bogey in an action-packed opening round.

They are one stroke clear of six players, including 2017 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open champion Dylan Frittelli, who that year beat Arjun Atwal of India in a play-off. The others in tied third included Herman Loubser, currently second on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit; multiple DP World Tour winners, Frenchman Alexander Levy and South African Brandon Stone, American Ryan Gerard and Spaniard Manuel Elvira. The six-man pack shot 4-under 68 each.

Last week's winner at Alfred Dunhill Links, Jayden Schaper, Swede Joakim Lagergren, Norwegian Andreas Halvorsen and South African MJ Daffue had finished their opening round in 69 each. The leaderboard will surely undergo a makeover as the round meanders towards its end.

Fritelli produced a great rally in his second nine. Fritelli, who got back to his winning ways last year in Bahrain, started from the tenth with two birdies and a bogey to turn in 1-under. He then dropped two shots on the first and the third to drop way down at 1-over. Then on the back nine came the fightback with three birdies on a trot from fourth and an eagle to boot on the Par-5 eighth. Suddenly the score was a healthy 4-under.

Levy, playing alongside Fritelli, had three birdies against a bogey on the back nine of the La Reserve. Like Fritelli, he dropped a shot on the third, but again like the South African, Levy picked three birdies in a row from the fourth to sixth and his card was looking good and he added a birdie on the eighth to go 5-under. A dropped shot on his closing hole, the ninth, saw him finish at 4-under.

Loubser, who has a bunch of wins on the Sunshine Tour, and is currently second on the 2025-26 Order of Merit, was with them at 4-under, underlining the depth of South African talent.