Stone relaxed in share of Mauritius lead

Brandon Stone put a tough year behind him as he fired a six-under-par 66 on Thursday to be in a five-way share of the first-round lead of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at Heritage Golf Club.

His seven birdies and a bogey saw him share the lead with teenager Rasmus Hojgaard from Denmark, the French duo of Benjamin Hebert and Romain Langasque, and Scotland’s Grant Forrest in a tournament sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour, the European Tour and the Asian Tour.

“2019 was a tough year,” Stone said.

“I don’t think I was the only one who really struggled.

“I think on the European Tour, you’ve got 110 guys who keep their cards and I think 109 of them are always going to be disappointed.

“I had a few results towards the end of the year that really got some confidence back in the game.” Stone turned in four-under-par 32 on his way to what looked as if it might be a very low score, but a bogey on the 10th slowed his progress until the 14th and 15th, where he made two successive birdies.

Then, after being in trouble off the tee on the par-five 18th — he nearly hit his wife, who was standing well out of danger on the left of the fairway — he recovered well for a final birdie to grab his share of the lead.

Hojgaard was flawless through his opening round, and took advantage of an early start which saw the wind less of an influence than later in the day.

“Conditions are very good,” he said.

“It’s a course where if you are playing well you can see a lot of chances. I managed to take them today. ”—