Frittelli lays his play-off bogey

Dylan Frittelli won his first play-off as a professional to take the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at Heritage Golf Club yesterday. He finished regulation play in 16-under-par after a four-underpar 67, and watched as the man who had led throughout, Arjun Atwal of India, lipped out with an eagle attempt on 18 which would have snatched victory from the South African’s grasp.

In the end, Atwal’s birdie forced the play-off, and Frittelli striped a drive down the 18th fairway in the first play-off hole to set up a birdie which gave him the eventual edge after losing two play-offs on the European Tour (in Perth and in Shanghai) and once in the Eye of Africa PGA Championship back in February.

“It’s good to finally win a playoff,” said Frittelli. “I’m proud of the way I played the 18th hole. I hit a good drive there which pretty much sums up the week.”

In gusty breezes, Frittelli’s putting – especially from within three feet under pressure – was nerveless throughout the week. And, from long range, he had a few graze the hole yesterday.

But it was indeed his very secure long game – longer than it used to be, and mostly very accurate – which gave him the win.

He birdied the 10th after taking driver off the tee, which was not something many other players were doing, and that gave him the lead which he never relinquished. And he used his distance to get his second onto the green in the parfive 14th into the wind. That set up his final birdie in regulation and it proved to be an important one.

Throughout the week, he was the picture of concentration, and he credited his caddie John Curtis for a lot of that. “He’s very good, very calm,” he said. “And this win is a great reward for some tough times – he lost his wife three months back.”

Frittelli’s 2018 quest is not quite over. The win in Mauritius will take him close to the top 50 in the world, and he wants to get inside that mark to secure his spot in the 2018 Majors and other important tournaments.