Alexander Levy demonstrated the quality that brought him five DP World Tour titles as he put himself in early contention at the 2026 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
The Frenchman was a frequent visitor to the winner's circle between 2014 and 2018, including two wins at the Volvo China Open while his last success came on African soil at the 2018 Trophee Hassan II in Morocco.
Levy lost his DP World Tour card last season and narrowly missed out on the 20 places available at Qualifying School Final Stage but, playing on a sponsor's invite this week, he made seven birdies and three bogeys in his opening round.
"It was tough, I played really good today," he said. "I'm really pleased with my game, I worked very hard the last months so I'm pleased the hard work paid off, it's nice."
Starting his round from the tenth hole, Levy birdied the 12th and 13th and though he dropped a shot at the 17th, he bounced back immediately with another gain at the next.
His inward nine featured four birdies in five holes at the fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth, sandwiched by dropped shots at the third and ninth.
He said of the conditions at Heritage La Réserve Golf Links: "The wind blows, stops, the rain comes, blows again... it's not easy, to be honest, it was really tricky.
"The golf course is in amazing condition and really, really tough, you have to keep the ball on the fairway and then you can manage to have some birdie positions, so yeah, it's a really tricky golf course.
"Like I said, I feel I practised really hard, I'm swinging really well. I think I'm in a good position, now I just need to keep doing what I'm doing and we will see what can happen. But I'm really pleased with what I'm doing."
