Golf: Heisele on Mauritius to start second place

The Munich golf pro Sebastian Heisele has started his first tournament of the season on the European Tour. The 29-year-old, who, as in 2016, had secured his Tour ticket through the Qualifying School, played a 66 on the Par-71 course in Domaine de Bel Ombre in Mauritius and was on second place with four other participants.

Only Arjun Atwal was better than Heisele on Thursday. The Indian made it to the 62nd round. The second German starter, Marcel Schneider (Pleidelsheim), came to the clubhouse with a 72.

The tournament on the small island in the Indian Ocean is endowed with one million euros. The winner collects a cheque for 191,660 euros. This is almost as much as Heisele deserved in the whole of last season (103,329). He had it as 141. the direct qualification for the European Tour.