On the day of his wedding anniversary, England’s John Parry claimed a fairytale victory in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at Mont Choisy Le Golf on Sunday.
Starting the final round five shots off the lead, Parry produced a masterful back nine of four birdies and an eagle over his final seven holes to close with a 64 and win by two strokes on 14 under par.
South Africa’s Christo Lamprecht and Dylan Naidoo shared second place on 12 under par with their respective final rounds of 65 and 71.
Parry’s victory in this Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour event signals a remarkable comeback for a golfer who won on the Tour in 2010 but then struggled thereafter and considered giving up the game at one point.
“At one stage I was back on the Euro Pro Tour and close to giving up golf after first winning on the DP World Tour when I was 23. It’s been a long battle back, but worth every moment for this win,” said Parry.
The victory caps a remarkable year for Parry.
He won three times on the European Challenge Tour this year and also challenged for the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek and finished second there the week before his Mauritius triumph.
Winning on wedding anniversary. 💍🏆 Not your average winning moment from John Parry. 😂👏#AfrAsiaBankMauritiusOpen #ABMO2024 #SunshineTour #DPWorldTour pic.twitter.com/bCZQCYjbaj
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) December 22, 2024
“It’s unbelievable. At the start of this year I didn’t think this would happen. After last week, my mindset this week was more focused on trying to win and not just hoping you’ll win.”
It’s a mindset he certainly displayed with that back nine performance, the spark for which came with his chip-in for eagle on the par-five 12th hole.
“That chip-in on 12 gave me a bit of momentum for the rest of the round. That was a key moment. I had a quick look at the leaderboard and to be honest I thought I was further back. I knew I had to get at it a bit today. I didn’t expect to chip in from that distance, and then I didn’t miss a shot coming in,” said Parry.
With his victory Parry was also crowned the winner of the DP World Tour’s Opening Swing, earning himself a $200 000 bonus.
“I think the big thing for me is knowing that you can do it at this level. This has made me very confident for 2025,” he said.
How it ended in Mauritius. 📊#AfrAsiaBankMauritiusOpen #ABMO2024 #SunshineTour #DPWorldTour pic.twitter.com/IDW3pWq8nu
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) December 22, 2024
SCORES
274 - John Parry 70 69 71 64
276 - Christo Lamprecht 69 68 74 65, Dylan Naidoo 70 69 66 71
277 - Jovan Rebula 71 69 67 70
278 - Richard Sterne 75 66 73 64, Freddy Schott 74 68 69 67, Andreas Halvorsen 68 70 72 68, Christiaan Burke 72 67 70 69
279 - Scott Jamieson 69 74 72 64, Corey Shaun 74 68 66 71, Jacob Olesen 67 70 69 73, Eddie Pepperell 66 70 69 74
280 - Marcus Kinhult 72 71 68 69, Clement Sordet 74 70 65 71, Jayden Schaper 68 72 68 72
281 - Hamish Brown 68 68 74 71, Ricky Hendler 72 68 70 71, Ben Schmidt 69 71 70 71
282 - Oliver Lindell 71 69 73 69, Andrea Pavan 69 72 72 69, Wilco Nienaber 68 72 70 72
283 - Benjamin Hebert 69 74 71 69, David Law 74 69 72 68, Renato Paratore 68 73 72 70, Matthew Southgate 74 67 72 70, JJ Senekal 69 75 69 70, James Morrison 70 72 69 72
284 - Deon Germishuys 70 74 70 70, Wynand Dingle 72 69 74 69, Adri Arnaus 72 71 73 68, Daniel Gale 76 65 70 73, Nikhil Rama 71 71 76 66
285 - Niklas Lemke 70 73 72 70, Zihao Jin 73 72 69 71, Filip Mruzek 74 70 69 72
286 - Keenan Davidse 74 71 70 71, Casey Jarvis 71 73 70 72, Jack Senior 71 74 71 70, Sebastian Garcia 70 73 74 69, Angel Ayora 72 70 75 69, Mikael Lindberg 70 75 66 75
287 - Luke Brown 70 71 73 73, Ivan Cantero 69 73 72 73, Gary Hurley 74 68 73 72, Wenyi Ding 76 67 70 74, Tadeas Tetak 73 71 72 71, Brandon Robinson Thompson 73 70 70 74, Joakim Lagergren 71 73 68 75, Davis Bryant 69 73 74 71, Thomas Aiken 73 69 75 70, Sean Crocker 72 73 73 69
288 - Jacques Blaauw 68 71 74 75, Louis de Jager 70 68 77 73, Yurav Premlall 74 71 71 72, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen 72 70 74 72, Justin Harding 73 72 73 70
289 - Jean Hugo 71 71 73 74, Trevor Fisher Jnr 71 69 75 74, Felix Mory 74 71 71 73, Daniel Brown 75 68 73 73
291 - CJ du Plessis 75 70 73 73, Max Rottluff 74 71 74 72
292 - Ryan Van Velzen 71 73 70 78, Jason Roets 73 71 73 75, Alexander Levy 73 72 74 73, Joel Moscatel 71 73 75 73, Jonathan Broomhead 71 70 79 72
294 - Santiago Tarrio 73 72 70 79, Altin van der Merwe 73 72 74 75, Justin Walters 73 70 76 75
295 - Tiger Christensen 71 72 75 77, Kyle Barker 76 69 76 74
298 - Anthony Michael 70 75 74 79
Missed the cut:
146 - Hennie O'Kennedy 72 74, Louis Albertse 71 75, Albert Boneta 71 75, Jacques Kruyswijk 74 72, Antoine Rozner 74 72, Robin Williams 72 74, Marcel Schneider 71 75, Heinrich Bruiners 74 72, Lucas Bjerregaard 73 73, Oihan Guillamoundeguy 73 73, Malcolm Mitchell 75 71, Neil Schietekat 73 73, Sam Hutsby 74 72, Pierre Pineau 71 75, Benjamin Follett-Smith 71 75, Kieran Vincent 72 74, Peter Karmis 75 71, Jens Fahbring 76 70, Robson Chinhoi 75 71
147 - Quintin Wilsnach 77 70, Martin Couvra 75 72, Daniel van Tonder 72 75, Pieter Moolman 72 75, Rourke van der Spuy 76 71, Jean Bekirian 75 72, Bjorn Akesson 77 70, Marcel Siem 71 76, Tyran Snyders 75 72, Bastien Amat 79 68
148 - Ruan Korb 77 71, Michael Hollick 73 75, Ross Fisher 75 73, Oliver Bekker 77 71, Kristoffer Reitan 74 74, Graham van der Merwe 78 70, Wooyoung Cho 78 70, Nicolas Colsaerts 76 72, David Ravetto 73 75, Dayne Moore 74 74, Nicolai Kristensen 72 76
149 - Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen 76 73, Richard Mansell 81 68, Jean-Paul Strydom 76 73, Callum Mowat 73 76, Jbe' Kruger 75 74, Conor Purcell 78 71, Toto Thimba Jnr 74 75, Luke Jerling 72 77, Jacques P de Villiers 75 74, MJ Viljoen 73 76
150 - Rupert Kaminski 71 79, Tristin Galant 78 72, Jack Hawksby 77 73, Stuart Krog 77 73, Martin Vorster 74 76, Wil Besseling 80 70, Otto Van Buynder 74 76
151 - Hennie Otto 78 73, Dylan Mostert 74 77, Danie Van Niekerk 76 75, Pierre Pellegrin 71 80, Estiaan Conradie 78 73, Keegan Mclachlan 73 78, Inhoi Hur 79 72
152 - Alexander Frances 74 78, Albert Venter 78 74, Danny List 80 72 153 - Matthew Spacey 76 77, James Mack 74 79 154 - Gavin Green 78 76, Dan Erickson 78 76, Herman Loubser 78 76, Joshua Berry 79 75, Keith Horne 79 75, Jake Redman 81 73, Lyle Rowe 78 76 155 - Gregorio De Leo 75 80 157 - Werner Deyzel 77 80 158 - Keelan van Wyk 75 83, Gabriel Le Court De Billot 80 78 159 - Kyle De Beer 79 80
165 - Ethan Smith 89 76 RTD - MK Kim 75 RTD RTD