Mauritius Open First-Round Leader Tips: Picks from 30/1 to 80/1

• 30/131.00 Angel Ayora is a rising star who opened with a 62 in the CT Grand Final

• 75/176.00 Joakim Lagergren is strong by the coast and can go low early

• 80/181.00 Oliver Bekker has been a regular fast starter in this event

Weather forecast for Thursday

It's going to be a very pleasant golfing day for Thursday's opening round.

Temperatures hold steady in the early 80s while wind speeds are consistent at around 15-18mph, perhaps just dropping a tad later in the day.

It's a two-tee start and times span from 06.20 to 13.20.

Angel Ayora @ 30/131.00

I'm itching to back exciting Spanish prospect Angel Ayora at some point soon and this could be a good opportunity.

The 20-year-old has burst through the ranks to become a full member of the DP World Tour and goes into this event ona real roll.

Since winning his card by finishing runner-up in October's Challenge Tour Grand Final, he's finished sixth in the Australian PGA, 23rd in the Aussie Open and fifth in last week's Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa.

As an absolute bomber - he topped 328 yards in the Driving Distance charts in both his last two starts - this week's resort-style course with five par 5s should really suit him.

Ayora opened with a 62 to lead the way after 18 holes of the Challenge Tour Grand Final while, just prior to that, he was fourth after day one of the Hainan Open in China where he also finished runner-up.

Ayora tees off at 07.00 from the 10th and has par 5s at 12, 14 and 18 and a short par 4 at 13 to quickly build his score.

Joakim Lagergren @ 75/176.00

If playing a Joakim Lagergren word association game (work with me here, it could happen) with a bunch of DP World Tour punters, likely answers would include "Alfred Dunhill Links Championship".

That's because of the Swede's absurdly good record in that event which shows four top fours in his first six starts.

You might get a "Sicily Open" from a real smart alec as that was the scene of his only DP World Tour win in 2018.

What unites both is that they are tournaments held by the coast so Lagergren should be in his comfort zone in Mauritius this week.

The 33-year-old was a back-to-back first-round leader on the Challenge Tour in the summer (Northern Ireland Open and Irish Challenge) while, two starts ago, he was fourth after an opening 66 at the Challenge Tour Grand Final.

If on one of his up days - he mixes lots of good and bad - Lagergren can make an impression.

It's his first start at this course but he played at Heritage last year and was 16th after day one. Lagergreen tees off at 11.30.

Oliver Bekker @ 80/181.00

In the recent Aussie Swing, I tipped Lucas Herbert for FRL in the PGA (he ended day one in 74th) only for him to shoot the lowest Thursday score (63) a week later at the Australian Open. Eric Morecambe and all that.

So having selected Oliver Bekker in this market last week without success, I'm going to give him another shot here at a similar price.

Bekker found form again with a top five in the South African PGA and, although he missed the cut last week, an opening 71 was okay and his iron play was good.

Driving cost him but he'll find these fairways at Mont Choisy far more generous.

He opened with a 64 when it last staged this event in 2022 to sit second while he's also thrived in round one in previous editions of the Mauritius Open, ending round one in the top seven on three other occasions.

South Africans have a good record in this event - it's a four-hour flight from Joburg (from London it's 12 hours if you're asking) - and Bekker can continue that from his 12.10 tee-time.

Now read Steve Rawlings on the Mauritius Open