Peter Baker has given himself a great chance of retaining the MCB Tour Championship Mauritius and maintained his outside hopes of topping the season-long MCB Road to Mauritius with a brilliant round on the Legends Course at Constance Belle Mare Plage.
The former Ryder Cup player started the day five shots off the lead, but five birdies on the outward half catapulted him up the leaderboard. He started the back nine with a couple of pars and bogeyed the 12th, but he sprinted home by playing the last six holes in -6. He reeled off four birdies in a row from the 13th, parred the 17th and put the exclamation mark on a magnificent day with an eagle at the final hole to reach a -12 total.
“I’m delighted,” said the seven-time Legends Tour winner. “I woke up this morning and I felt absolutely awful. I’ve been coughing all night, sore throat, and just thought, ‘I’ll just try and get round.’ I hit a few loose shots early on, but got away with it, and then played nicely. I had some nice putts, but it’s really, really unexpected because I feel awful.”
The eagle on 18 was vital for giving him the solo lead: “It was a great shot (into 18). I remember from last year I hit a couple of really good shots in there, and didn’t make the eagles, so I was happy to make that putt.
“I’m going to get some rest now and try and feel a bit better for tomorrow. I’m just happy to have a shot at it again. Obviously, today was exceptional. That’s going to be tough to do tomorrow, but if we can just play well and putt well, you never know.”
Baker knew coming into the week that he needed to win and hope that MCB Road to Mauritius number one Adilson da Silva finishes outside the top 35 for him to retain his Order of Merit title. He’s holding up his end of the bargain, but the Brazilian signed for a 65 to sit tied-4th on -9, so Da Silva is looking odds-on to be the 2024 number one after finishing 2nd on the points list the last two years.
In a continuation of their brilliant rivalry, Da Silva was playing with Baker – and both players clearly rose to the challenge. Da Silva, who is the only multiple winner this season with two victories, had a blemish-free card with seven red numbers, including three in the last five holes.
Carl Suneson also had a bogey-free 65 today, and he’s alone in 2nd just one shot behind Baker. The Spaniard is 48th on the MCB Road to Mauritius, with his only top-20 this year being a tied-5th at the HSBC India Legends Championship, so this represents a fantastic opportunity to seal a first Legends Tour title and finish 2024 on a high.
Overnight co-leader Greig Hutcheon is in 3rd on -10 after he added a 69 to yesterday’s 65. The maiden winner in France this year notched five birdies, but also bogeyed a couple of the par-5s.
Alongside Da Silva in tied-4th are European Legends Cup victor Simon Griffiths, 2022 MCB Road to Mauritius number one James Kingston, and Robert Coles, who won the flagship Staysure PGA Seniors Championship in early August – they shot 64, 66 and 68 respectively.
Griffiths has already wrapped up the Barry Lane Rookie of the Year award irrespective of what happens this week, but he’s continuing a fantastic run of form to finish the season after earning his card through Qualifying School and battling injury earlier in the year.
There’s a five-way tie for 8th on -8, featuring Doug McGuigan, Jean-François Remesy, Phillip Price, Emanuele Canonica and Keith Horne. Ryder Cup legend Colin Montgomerie is a shot further back in 13th.
Greg Owen, the other man who held the co-lead after round one at -7, shot a disappointing 74 to slide into tied-19th on -5. It was also a disappointing day for Scott Hend, who is 2nd on the MCB Road to Mauritius. The big-hitting Aussie slipped out of contention for the tournament and the season-long race with a +3 score that’s seen him fall down the leaderboard into a tie for 35th on -1.
Visit www.legendstour.com to see the full leaderboard and final round tee times, and to find out more about the MCB Tour Championship Mauritius at Constance Belle Mare Plage, Mauritius.
