American Kurt Kitayama sealed a two-stroke victory at the Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open at Anahita in just his third start as a European Tour member catapulting him to second place in this season’s Race to Dubai Rankings.
The 25 year old, who earned his European Tour card via Qualifying School last month, carded a closing 68 to win by two and with it he collected 335 Race to Dubai points. His season-tally is 347.9, meaning he trails the Honma Hong Kong Open champion Aaron Rai by 112.1 points.
France’s Matthieu Pavon earned 173.5 points for his share of second place alongside India’s S. Chikkarangappa to move to sixth in the Race to Dubai. South Africa’s Justin Harding climbed into the top ten in the Rankings thanks to his fourth place finish, which secured him 100 points.
Across the Indian Ocean, Cameron Smith successfully defended his Australian PGA Championship title with a two-stroke win over Marc Leishman. There was also a welcome return to form for Englishman Ross McGowan with his third place finish in Queensland.
McGowan, who finished runner-up at the inaugural DP World Tour Championship, Dubai in 2009, carded a final round 63 to take a share of third place. He earned 112.5 Race to Dubai points to begin his campaign in ninth place in the season-long rankings.
Australia’s Jason Scrivener finished in a share of sixth place to earn 60 points, taking his season-tally to 214.5 to sit comfortably in fourth place in the Race to Dubai.
