Ralph shows that he’s pleased to be back at the Belle Mare Plage

On his last visit to Mauritius, two years ago, Englishman Glenn Ralph suffered a freak accident that left him in plaster with a double fracture of the ankle.
That injury, sustained when he slipped getting into a swimming pool, forced Ralph to take a 12-month absence from the European Senior Tour while he recovered.
Quite amazingly, when Ralph returned to the Tour at the start of this year, he went on to have his best season ever, finishing fourth in the money list.

And that form was maintained when the 53-year-old from Camberley began his challenge for the inaugural Mauritius Commercial Bank Open on the Legend course at the Constance Belle Mare Plage resort.
In sweltering conditions with the mercury topping 30 degrees, Ralph made a slow start, compared to many of his rivals. He collected his first birdie at the par-four eighth hole but then had three in a row from the 10th.
A three-putt bogey five at the 14th provided the only blemish on his card before the 6ft 3in Ralph picked up further birdies at 15 and 17 to go to the top of the leaderboard with a five-under-par 67.
“I was quite happy with my game today,” he said afterwards. “I played pretty steadily throughout and gave myself plenty of chances.”
Earlier, American Doug Johnson had set the clubhouse target after a roller-coaster round that included an eagle, six birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey.
The left-hander, who survived a life-threatening accident in 2008, has been working on his technique with fellow Senior Tour player Peter Mitchell and it seemed to have paid dividends in the first few holes as Johnson made birdies at four of the first six holes.

He sandwiched a birdie at 10 with bogies either side and although he picked up another shot at the 15th, he then dropped two at the 16th.

However, a wonderful eagle three at the par-five closing hole saw him close on a highly creditable four-under.
“Peter has helped me tremendously,” said Johnson. “I hit some real quality shots over the first nine.
“But I made a bad swing at 11 and double-bogeyed from just off the fringe at 16. I just messed up.
“But I hit a good drive at 18 and decided to try to close up on the leaders, who were on minus six at the time.
“I hit a three-wood that never left the flag and sunk the putt from five feet.”
Mitchell, meanwhile, was enjoying himself over the first nine, despite suffering from a persistent throat and chest infection.
“I’ve had it for about four weeks and the antibiotics weren’t working so they’ve changed them and I have been feeling a bit better.”

That certainly seemed to be the case as Mitchell went out in just 30 strokes with six birdies, his best coming at the ninth, where he holed a 50-foot putt from just off the front edge of the green.
A wayward approach at 16 ended with a two-putt bogey, and misread putts at 14 and 16 saw two more shots disappear before the Londoner birdied the last to draw level with Johnson.
South African David Frost, one of the pre-tournament favourites, announced his arrival on the European Senior Tour by going five-under after just six holes, with three birdies and an eagle at the fourth.
He reached the turn in 31 but then dropped four shots over the closing six holes, including bogies at each of the last three holes to finish in a five-way tie for fourth place on two-under.

Frost admitted that the extreme heat got to him on the back nine:
“It got so hot in that pocket around 12, 13, 14 and 15,” he said.
“I didn’t use the cart until the 15th so maybe I should have driven a bit more before then. I may have got a little dehydrated. I didn’t finish very well. I three-putted 17 and then pulled my second shot into the water at 18.”
He added: “I was pleased with my first nine. I hit some really phenomenal shots.
“My last nine on the European Tour was a 32 in the Czech Republic and my first nine on the Senior Tour was a 31, so that’s something to remember.”
Less memorable was the two-over-par for defending Order of Merit champion Sam Torrance.

He collected two birdies but had four bogies on the inward half.
“It wasn’t the course,” he said ruefully afterwards. “It was me.”

Leading scores: 67 Glenn Ralph (GB); 68 Doug Johnson (USA), Peter Mitchell (GB); 70 R Chapman (GB), A Franco (Par), D Frost (RSA), B Lincoln (RSA), M Lord (GB); 71 S Bennett (GB), P-A Brostedt (Swe), P Dahlberg (Swe), R Drummond (Sco), N Job (Eng), J Quiros (Sp), J Rivero (Sp), K Spurgeon (Eng), G Watine (Fr).

Neil webber