Some events have a stronger meaning than others for players, and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open is one that has come to hold particular importance for Marcel Siem.
The six-time DP World Tour winner has made Mauritius his home in recent years, having relocated there with his family at the end of 2022.
This followed several previous visits to the Indian Ocean island during the winter months, including when his wife, Laura, was recovering from chemotherapy following a cancer diagnosis in 2021.
"My wife and I when we landed last night, we said it was so nice to be back on the island again, being home," he told the DP World Tour.
"Really looking forward to this week.
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Part of the DP World Tour schedule since 2015, this week sees Siem make his sixth start at an event co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour.
And the 45-year-old does so at Heritage La Réserve Golf Links, where he finished in a tie for 16th when the venue hosted a professional event for the first time in 2023.
While the year-ending tournament is often described as 'golf in paradise', with the ocean views and relaxed environment in Mauritius, Siem put in the hard work to be best prepared before recent back-to-back starts in the Opening Swing in South Africa.
"I tried to practice as much as possible the three weeks off that we had before Nedbank and we had north winds, eight rounds in a row, so we didn’t get the beauty of the south easterly winds which is what makes the course really difficult," explained Siem, an ambassador for Heritage Resorts & Golf.
"I know the course and it looks magnificent, even better than three weeks ago. When you head towards a tournament, the fairways are a little bit tighter, it looks amazing."
As Indian Ocean’s first and only links-style championship course, conditions play a big factor in the difficulty of the challenge.
Two years ago, Louis Oosthuizen won with a score of 17 under par, with Siem eight shots adrift and he is expected a stern challenge.
"Assuming we have two or three clubs of wind, any round under par is a good score," he added.
"It is going to be tough to shoot low anyways. Two years ago, on one day I think there were only two guys who shot under par when it was pumping.
"Then it turned around, if there is no wind, there are par fours that are reachable, par fives are reachable and you can go low.
"Forecast wise it looks quite windy so keep it on the fairway is the key thing this week because the rough is really high and you lose balls.
"The greens are on a draw bias. You have to hit right to left shots into the greens with wind off the left so it is tricky. You have got to have the shot going to shoot under par, for sure."
