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Duo chanced at La Réserve Golf Links
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Read Matt Cooper's each-way column here
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Read my Mauritius Open preview here
The DP World Tour heads to Mauritius for the final event of 2024 - the Mauritius Open - so this is our last chance to land a fourth triple-figured priced winner following wins for Wyndham Clark at 120.0119/1 in the US Open, Lee Hodges at 100.099/1 at the 3M Open, and Camilo Villegas in Bermuda at 160.0159/1.
It's a tough assignment given all seven previous renewals have been won by plausible candidates and, as highlighted in the preview, I'm fairly keen on the defending champ Antoine Rozner. But I'm happy to chance a couple of South Africans ahead of Thursday's start.
Ryan Van Velzen @ 210.0209/1
At a fractionally bigger price than he was trading at last week, I'm happy to back the 22-year-old South African, Ryan Van Velzen, again, in what is a weaker looking event.
Van Velzen missed the cut last week at Leopard Creek, but we probably shouldn't be too surprised by that following his excellent tied second in the South African Open the week before.
I felt he was worth chancing at such a big price last week given how impressive he was the week before. But having gone into the final round of his national open tied for the lead, and having plugged on bravely in round four to finish runner-up, a degree of mental letdown was perhaps all we could have expected.
This is a brand-new week at a venue he's never been to before and a weekend off to recharge the batteries may well have done the two-time Sunshine Tour winner the world of good. So it's just a case of which Van Velzen turns up in Mauritius?
If he misses the cut again we won't have done too much damage given his price but if it's the Van Velzen who surprised and greatly impressed at Blair Atholl a fortnight ago then he's very much over-priced at odds in excess of 200.0199/1.
Place order to lay 8u @ 10.09/1 & 12u @ 2.01/1
Daniel van Tonder @ 340.0339/1
Since losing his full playing privileges on the DP World Tour, when finishing last season in 117th place in the Race to Dubai standings, just 28.24 points behind Ross Fisher in 116th, who kept his card, Daniel van Tonder's form figures don't look great.
He missed the cut at both the Joburg Open and the South African Open and he was one of five players to retire from the Alfred Dunhill Championship on Sunday after the event ran into Monday.
That withdrawal will have given Van Tonder the opportunity to get to Mauritius that little bit earlier than most and I'm happy to chance him at a massive price.
Although he hasn't contended since losing his card he's played quite nicely in spells, and he could be close.
He started round three slowly on Saturday at Leopard Creek, but he played his last eight holes in six-under-par, so he's not in utterly hopeless form and this venue might just suit him.
Van Tonder, who's won eight times previously on the Sunshine Tour, was a contender at the Open Championship on his only appearance in the event in 2021 (finished 40th but sat seventh at halfway) so we know he likes a links test. If last week's event had stopped after 54 holes, a lot more punters would have spotted the 32-year-old's finish to round three.
This week odds in excess of 300.0299/1 are just too big for someone as prolific as Van Tonder.
Place order to lay 8u @ 10.09/1 & 12u @ 2.01/1
Read my Mauritius Open preview here
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