Greg Owen Triumphs After Tense Finish at MCB Mauritius Legends

Greg Owen made a clutch birdie on the 18th hole at Constance Belle Mare Plage to pip Jeev Milkha Singh and Darren Fichardt to the 2025 MCB Mauritius Legends title by one stroke.

Owen looked in control of the tournament as he boarded the 15th tee of the Legends course but a double bogey on the par 4 and a dropped shot on the short 17th – combined with Milkha Singh’s birdie on the 18th meant the Englishman needed a birdie down the last to win.

The 53-year-old from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, who enjoyed a fine career on the PGA Tour, ripped his drive down the middle of the risk-reward par 5 to leave himself the perfect spot from which to attack the green.

His playing partner Craig Farrelly was the furthest back off the tee but was holding up play because he had blocked his tee shot right into volcanic rocks, so Owen called to the rookie that he would play first and drilled a long iron to the heart of the green, eight feet from the pin.

An eagle was possible and a birdie almost certain – but the drama was not over, because Fichardt could still tie with him if he could make eagle.

The South African fired a fine iron shot to within 10ft but his eagle putt burnt the edge of the hole, meaning Owen had two putts for the win.

He made no mistake, tapping in for a closing birdie that gave him a seven-under-par total for the final day and a 18-under aggregate for the week thanks to rounds of 65, 68 and 65.

That was one shot better for the day and week than Fichardt, who compiled matching halves of 33 for his six-under 66 – including back-to-back birdies in the final two holes – on a sweltering day at Constance Belle Mare Plage.

Milkha Singh was playing in the group ahead of Owen and Fichardt and put pressure on the final group with four birdies on his front nine, and added three more coming home, with his only bogey on the 15th.

The first Indian to win on the DP World Tour fired his approach over the flag on the 18th and although it trickled into the bunker behind the green, he got up and down to draw level at 17 under with Owen and force the Englishman to make a closing birdie.

Owen, who agonisingly missed out on winning the PGA Tour’s 2006 Bay Hill Invitational when he took three putts from little over three feet on the penultimate hole, began the day with four consecutive birdies.

Five more followed between the 6th and 14th as he looked set to cruise to victory – before the two shots he dropped on the 15th and the bogey on 17.

“Who likes to do things the easy way,” said Owen, referring to his dropped shots on the back nine. “That made things interesting but it makes the win even sweeter. Thank you to everyone involved in the event, we are looked after so well by everyone at Constance Belle Mare Plage and all the players love coming to Mauritius every year.”

Peter Baker was fourth in the 14th edition of the MCB Mauritius Legends on 15 under. He missed two good looks at birdie in his opening two holes but remained patient and picked up four shots in the final six holes of the back nine to raise the prospect of a hat-trick of victories in the event.

The 2024 Legends Tour order of merit champion made two more birdies at the 13th and 14th to get to 16 under but then recorded back-to-back bogeys to derail his hopes of catching Owen.

Farrelly, who secured his 2025 legends Tour card via the final spot in qualifying school, could not maintain the form that gave him a one-stroke lead going into Sunday’s final round.

The Englishman exchanged two birdies and two bogeys in his first five holes but then conjured an eagle on the 6th to get his round going. However a bogey followed on the short 11th and he made pars all the way in – including a superb up-and-down on the last – to finish in a four-way tie for fifth.

One of that quartet was Michael Campbell, who completed a sensational weekend by shooting a seven-under 65 following his Saturday 66.

The 2005 US Open champion began the event modestly with a level-par 72 that left him well adrift of the leaders. But his sparkling weekend took him to a tie for fifth with Stephen Gallacher – made six birdies but also two bogeys in his 68 – Andrew Marshall and Farrelly.

Jamie Donaldson bounced back from his disappointing one-over second round, which he put down to running low on energy after a busy start to Legends Tour life, with a fine six-under 66.

The Welshman, who holed the winning putt in the 2014 Ryder Cup, shot a blemish-free closing round that including two birdies going out and then another at the 10th before three in the final four holes to finish on 12 under.

Australian Scott Hend closed with a 72 for a seven-under total, a week after clinching the Legends Tour’s order of merit trophy.

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