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Dodt leads in Mauritius

Anahita - Australian Andrew Dodt fired the round of the day in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open to take a two stroke lead into day two at the Four Seasons Golf Club at Anahita, Mauritius.

India’s Rashid Khan and Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman are the closest of the chasing pack on four-under-par.

Dodt’s round included six birdies and an eagle at the par-five 18th, and the Australian limited the damage to card a six-under-par 66 around the challenging layout.

“If someone offered me six under at the start of the day, I’d have taken it. It’s not easy out there. If you’re off by just a little bit, it gets magnified by the wind. I played really solidly. I didn’t make many mistakes and the momentum of the round just kept flowing.”

There has been much talk about the gusty conditions this week, and the Ernie Els designed course, which weaves its way around Mauritius’ east coast, can be severely exposed to the elements.

“It was pretty breezy, and when you get out to three, four and five you’re right on the beach and more exposed. I hit an eight iron from 96 metres at one stage. I haven’t done that before,” Dodt said. “When you play well the conditions don’t really matter, and I think that’s what happened today. Having said that, this course can bite you at any stage, so there’s a long way to go and a lot of golf to be played,” he added.

Patience around the 7 500 yard course is key with the challenging conditions and Dodt explained that there are a few holes on the course that demand full attention. “You just try and stay in there and hang tough. You have to stay patient and limit the mistakes. Holes like 14, 15 and 16 are just straight into the wind and pars are very good scores there. If you can get through those holes, there are a couple of birdie chances coming in,” he said.

The highest placed South African after round one is Jbe' Kruger, who withdrew from last week’s Investec Royal Swazi Open due to a lower back injury, and he gingerly felt his way around the course for a two-under-par 70, leaving him four shots off the pace.

“Firstly I have to thank the Lord, just for helping me to play. I didn’t even know if I was going to play this morning because I’ve got a not-so-great back. Thanks to all the physio’s that helped me,” said Kruger.

Kruger echoed the thoughts of the leader, highlighting the importance of keeping the errors to a minimum.  “I think you’ve just got to try and eliminate the errors, or just try and hit greens really. It’s not really going to be under-par. You’ve got to try and make as little mistakes as you can and stay patient because this is a though golf course and with the wind like this I think patience is going to win it,” he added.

Seven other South Africans are one shot further back on one-under-par, including world number 62 Jaco Van Zyl, defending champion George Coetzee, and Four Seasons Golf Club at Anahita ambassador Hennie Otto.

Scores:

66 - Andrew Dodt (AUS)

68 - Rashid Khan (IND), Siddikur Rahman (BAN)

69 - Tano Goya (ARG), Jeunghun Wang (KOR)

70 - Natipong Srithong (THA), Jbe' Kruger (RSA), Chiragh Kumar (IND)

71 - Louis de Jager (RSA), Jaco van Zyl (RSA), Thitiphun Chuayprakong (THA), George Coetzee (RSA), Wallie Coetsee (RSA), Ryan Evans (ENG), Stuart Manley (WAL),Jaco Ahlers (RSA), Ruan de Smidt (RSA), Hennie Otto (RSA), Jason Scrivener (AUS), Lasse Jensen(DEN), Richard McEvoy (ENG)

72 - Chris Hanson (ENG), Mardan Mamat (SIN), Berry Henson (USA), Dean Burmester (RSA), Paul Peterson (USA), Jack Harrison (ENG), Danie van Tonder (RSA),Panuphol Pittayarat (THA), Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Matthew Southgate (ENG), Scott Hend (AUS), Justin Harding (RSA), Christiaan Basson (RSA), Masahiro Kawamura (JPN)

73 - Ryan Fox (NZL), Sam Cyr (USA), Sam Brazel (AUS), Haydn Porteous (RSA), Keith Horne (RSA), Arjun Atwal (IND), Lukas Nemecz (AUT), Rhys West (RSA),Laurie Canter (ENG), Ulrich van den Berg (RSA), Rahil Gangjee (IND), Himmat Rai (IND), Richard T Lee (CAN), Zander Lombard (RSA), Brandon Stone (RSA),Jeev Milkha Singh (IND), Jacques Blaauw (RSA), Jyoti Randhawa (IND), Phachara Khongwatmai (THA)

74 - Lionel Weber (FRA), Christofer Blomstrand (SWE), Daniel Gavins (ENG), Jean Hugo (RSA), Lyle Rowe (RSA), Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND), Scott Vincent (ZIM),Jazz Janewattananond (THA), Adilson Da Silva (BRA), George Murray (SCO), David Dixon (ENG), Terry Pilkadaris (AUS), Vaughn Groenewald (RSA), Ben Eccles (AUS),Jason Knutzon (USA), Rourke van der Spuy (RSA)

75 - Max Orrin (ENG), Ross McGowan (ENG), Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Brett Munson (USA), Clement Berardo (FRA), Shiv Kapur (IND), Soomin Lee (KOR), Unho Park (AUS),Carlos Pigem (ESP), Garth Mulroy (RSA), Nino Bertasio (ITA), Oliver Bekker (RSA)

76 - Daniel Chopra (SWE), Tjaart van der Walt (RSA), Shaun Norris (RSA), James Kingston (RSA), Hung Chien-Yao (TPE), PH McIntyre (RSA), Jamie McLeary (SCO),Tyrone Ferreira (RSA), Tom Lewis (ENG), Bryce Easton (RSA), Dimitrios Papadatos (AUS)

77 - Adrian Otaegui (ESP), Francesco Laporta (ITA), Lu Wei-Chih (TPE), Erik van Rooyen (RSA), Miguel Tabuena (PHI), Marcus Kinhult (SWE), Mark Foster (ENG)

78 - Mithun Perera (SRI), Javier Colomo (ESP), Irvin Mazibuko (RSA), Kalem Richardson (AUS), Henry Featherstone (ENG), Shubankar Sharma (IND), James Robinson (ENG)

79 - Lee Chieh-Po (TPE), Chris Swanepoel (RSA), Dylan Frittelli (RSA), Li Hao-tong (CHN), Petr Dedek (CZE), Joshua White (ENG)

80 - Ryan Tipping (RSA), Justin Walters (RSA), Toto Thimba (Jnr), Nick Marsh (ENG)

81 - James Busby (ENG), Michael Hollick (RSA), Soren Hansen (DEN), Kristopher Mueck (AUS)

83 - Nicolo Ravano (ITA )

85 - Titch Moore (RSA)

86 - Khalin Joshi (IND)

88 - Ludovic Bax (MRI)

RTD - Danthai Boonma (THA)

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