America’s Kurt Kitayama won the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open by two shots after completing four rounds at the Four Seasons Golf Club at Anahita in 20 under par.
Kitayama, who earned his European Tour card at last month’s Qualifying School, carded an eagle, four birdies and two bogeys in his closing round of 68 on Sunday.
But it was not all plain sailing for the 25 year old, as he saw his lead reduced to a single shot when he missed his par putt from six feet at the 16th.He held his nerve, though, holing from 20 feet for a birdie at the 17th to restore his two-stroke cushion, before safely parring the last to win the tournam,ent.
India’s S Chikkarangappa and Matthieu Pavon finished in a tie for second on 18 under par after they both produced closing rounds of 67/
Kitayama said:“I’m just so proud, really happy. It’s an unbelievable moment for me. There were definitely some nerves around the first tee shot, but going birdie-eagle-birdie helped to calm things down for the rest of the day.”
He added: “This whole year has been great. It’s been a different journey for me, going from the Web.com Tour to the Asian Tour, and now the European Tour. It’s been really exciting being able to travel all over the world, and I’m going to continue to travel more.”