Peter Baker triumphs in Mauritius

Peter Baker crowned a triumphant 2023 on the Legends Tour with a sensational victory in the MCB Tour Championship – Mauritius on the Legends Course at Constance Belle Mare Plage.

On a day of electric golf and fluctuating drama, the Englishman moved into contention with a hat trick of birdies midway through the back nine of the final round and sealed the win with a decisive par breaker on the 18th green in front of cheering crowds and a packed clubhouse.

Baker carded three scores of 67 through the week for a 15-under total of 201 that left him one shot clear of Australia’s Peter Fowler and the Swede Patrik Sjöland. Brazil’s Adilson Da Silva and Frenchman Jean Francois Remesy were a further shot back in a share for fourth

The result completed two fine doubles for Baker. On the one hand, he is the first golfer to win both the Mauritius Open and the MCB Tour Championship and, on the other, he also won the John Jacobs Trophy, awarded to the number one ranked player in the 2023 Legends Tour season.

For much of a thrilling Sunday it had appeared that Sjöland would be victorious. The two-time DP World Tour winner made five early birdies to hit the top of the leaderboard but he will rue his failure to birdie the par-5 18th hole which would have forced a play-off. His consolation was that finishing second confirmed him as the 2023 Barry Lane Rookie of the Year.

Baker’s win was the fourth of what has been the most successful year of his celebrated career. A three-time winner on the DP World Tour and hero of the European team at the 1993 Ryder Cup, his name will now sit alongside fellow legends of the game Tom Lehman, Colin Montgomerie and Thomas Bjørn on the MCB Tour Championship trophy.

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