Dan Brown has every reason to be upbeat as he closes out his year at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
The Englishman makes his return to action this week on the DP World Tour for the first time since last month’s DP World Tour Championship.
Having left Dubai thinking he’d agonisingly missed out on dual membership with the PGA TOUR via last season's Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World, he has since learned he will be playing across both tours next year, after countryman Laurie Canter’s move to LIV Golf.
A winner of his second DP World Tour title in Germany last season along with two runner-up finishes, Brown is bidding to cap a career-best year with more success on the Indian Ocean island.
Already in good spirits, Brown has fond memories of this week’s host venue Heritage La Réserve Golf Links too having finished in a tie for third here in 2023.
Asked how his game feels on the eve of the tournament, he told the DP World Tour: “It feels good. I have had a good bit of time off.
“I obviously had some good news with the PGA TOUR card.
“I have had three or four weeks off and I have been practicing hard the last week or so, so my game feels good and hopefully we can send that into this week.”
Back then, he carded a closing 65 to finish three shots adrift of winner Louis Oosthuizen, who co-designed the course alongside Peter Matkovich.
And Brown is thrilled to once again be competing on the contemporary links layout, which features dramatic elevations to define each hole.
“I like the place, obviously the views are amazing, but the golf course is great as well,” he said,
“We’re not just playing golf in paradise, it’s a great golf course as well.
“Obviously, good memories. I had a nice Sunday last time around so hopefully we can do that again and potentially go one or two better.”
Having impressed on links layouts before, most notably at The Open Championship when he led after the first round at Royal Troon in 2024, Brown has proven he is more than adept at performing in windy conditions which are forecasted this week.
“A lot of the greens are like upside down saucers, so I think iron play is a big thing this week," he said.
“Quite a few of the fairways are fairly generous. I think with the wind, with your iron play you have got to be able to control your flight and make sure it is not going too far offline.”
