Port Louis (Mauritius), Dec 21 (IANS) India’s Shubhankar Sharma mixed flashes of brilliance with costly lapses to finish tied 32nd in the Mauritius Open, while South Africa’s Jayden Schaper claimed the title with a dramatic victory in a play-off.

Sharma produced a final-round 3-under 69 that included several birdies and an eagle, but frequent bogeys stalled his progress. With rounds of 74-69-71-69, the Indian signed off at 5-under for the week.

Starting on the 10th tee at the demanding La Réserve Links, hosting the event for the second successive year, Sharma opened with a birdie but dropped a shot on the next hole. A strong stretch of birdie-eagle-birdie briefly lifted hopes of a charge, but a bogey on the par-five 15th — his third dropped shot at the hole in four days — halted the momentum.

He birdied the 18th, bogeyed the fourth, then traded a birdie on the sixth with a double bogey on the par-three seventh before closing with a birdie on the eighth.

“My game is coming around, but this week I didn’t hit it well off the tee,” said Sharma, who recently regained his DP World Tour playing rights with a runner-up finish at Q-School. “Every time things started moving my way, I gave away shots. Still, I feel things are slowly falling into place.”

Sharma now hopes to gain entry into upcoming Gulf events, including the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and the Bahrain Championship.

At the top, Schaper and American Ryan Gerard finished tied at 22-under after four rounds, having produced exceptional golf over the weekend on the challenging links layout. Schaper closed with rounds of 64-64, while Gerard posted 63-66.

Both players parred the 18th on the first play-off hole, but Schaper stunningly ended the contest on the second, chipping in for eagle to seal his second victory in as many starts.

“I don’t even know what to say. That’s just such an insane way to finish a tournament,” said Schaper, moments after celebrating with his mother. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Christmas and New Year are going to be pretty special.”

The win continued Schaper’s remarkable run of form, with his last three finishes reading second, first, and first. Following his victory at the Alfred Dunhill Championship last week, he has now comfortably clinched the Opening Swing of the DP World Tour and made a flying start to his 2026 season.

Gerard, who travelled nearly 10,000 miles from Florida in search of a breakthrough win and a Masters invitation, fell agonisingly short. However, his runner-up finish lifted him into the top 50 of the world rankings, securing a debut start at Augusta National in April. The American earlier this year won the Barracuda Championship, co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.

–IANS

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