BEL OMBRE, Mauritius – Brandon Stone continued to put his disappointing 2019 season behind him as he got right in contention heading into the weekend at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
The South African was already a two time European Tour winner when he claimed a Rolex Series victory at the 2018 Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and he had the world at his feet.
But he has achieved just three top tens since then, including a runner up finish at the Portugal Masters that saw him sneak inside the top 100 on the 2019 Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex.
After missing out on the three limited field Rolex Series events to finish the campaign, he started his 2020 season by making the cut at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, an event where he is a previous champion.
A 66-67 start at Heritage Golf Club has maintained his momentum, and Stone is excited heading into the weekend in the Indian Ocean.
”Putting is an important component every week," he said. "I think that was the missing factor I had last week because I felt like I hit the ball as good last week as I am this week but I just didn’t convert.
"It felt like your back was against the wall, whereas this week, I’m giving myself a lot of opportunities and managed to convert the majority of those and that’s why I see myself at the top of the leaderboard and not at the cut line like I was last week.
"The target for the weekend to is go as low as we can go, actually. The game feels quite comfortable and I know the guys on Tour will maybe tuck a few flags over the weekend, a little bit of breeze is forecasted.
"It’s going to be a challenge and at the same time, there’s a lot of really top quality players in the field, so you’re going to go out and try to shoot as low as you can and, hopefully, by Sunday evening it’s going to be enough."