Rowan Lester’s one-under-par 71 wasn’t enough to see him through to the weekend as Casey Jarvis opened up a two-shot lead at the midway point of the 2026 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
A tough opening day in high winds left the Dubliner needing something truly special in round two if he was to have any chance of making the cut, and though he responded by making five birdies in the second round, two bogeys and a late double bogey left him tied for 135th.
South African Jarvis, who shared the first-round lead with Scott Jamieson, shot 65 on Friday at Heritage La Réserve Golf Links to move to 12-under-par.
His nearest challenger was Alexander Levy, playing on a sponsor’s invite after losing his DP World Tour card last season, whose 66 took him to ten under. Spain’s Manuel Elvira was another shot back.
The day belonged, though, to Jarvis. He opened with a birdie at the tenth and after giving that shot straight back at the next, he responded with back-to-back gains and another at the 16th.
He bogeyed the 17th but birdied the 18th, and then finished with a flourish as he birdied four in a row from the fifth before a closing par at the difficult ninth.
Jarvis – winner of two November events on the Sunshine Tour, the Hyundai Open and Vodacom Origins of Golf – said: “I always love coming to Mauritius so to play nicely, to start well and then back it up with a good round today, lots of positives.
“There wasn’t much wind out there until the last couple of holes so I took advantage of the good conditions.
“I feel like last week I got a little frustrated with my game and I’m just trying to have fun out here this week. I thought ‘I’m in Mauritius, I might as well have fun’ and yeah, it seems to be working.
“It’s a different course to what I’m used to but it’s a lot of fun. I like it that there are a few driveable holes out there.
“I’ve just got to stay patient, play my game, the game I’ve been playing the last two days, and we’ll see what happens.”
Levy chipped in at the tenth and holed a 50-foot putt at the 17th for two of his six birdies to move second on his own, two shots behind Jarvis.
The Frenchman said after his bogey-free round: “Yeah, I played really solid today, I’m really proud.
“It was very tough conditions at the start, I managed myself to play really well on the front nine, didn’t play my best on the back nine but I managed to put (together) a good score and I’m really pleased with that.
“It’s an amazing place, I love to be here, I managed myself to be really focused on the golf course and enjoy afterwards and relax.
“(The course is) really nice, it asks a lot of you. You have to be really good from the tee, if you put the ball in a good spot from the tee you can manage to be aggressive and that’s what I’ve tried to do this week. If you drive well you can manage to have some birdie chances.”
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