BEL OMBRE, Mauritius (AP) — Jayden Schaper made it back-to-back titles Sunday by winning the Mauritius Open in a playoff over Ryan Gerard, the American who flew across two oceans for the final event of the year and returns home with an invitation to the Masters.
Schaper birdied three of his last four holes for an 8-under 64, and then chipped in for eagle to win on the second playoff hole. He won last week in the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa by making eagle in a playoff.
Gerard had reason to feel like a big winner, too.
He was No. 57 in the world — the Masters awards invitations to the top 50 in the final world ranking of the year — and chose to fly from Florida to Mauritius, a small island about 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) off the eastern coast of Africa.
Needing to finish in the top four to have any chance to get into the Masters, he had a 63-66 weekend and got into a playoff with Shaper, which secured his spot at Augusta National in April.
Schaper, meanwhile, closed his year in sterling fashion. The 24-year-old South African tied for second in the Nedbank Golf Challenge, and then won the Alfred Dunhill and Mauritius in playoffs, ending both of them with an eagle.
That moves him from No. 153 to No. 63 in the world in three weeks and gives him a big head start in the Race to Dubai rankings on the European tour.
Augusta National also will invite the top 50 in the world a week before the Masters.