Sebastian Söderberg will take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open after conquering the wind to card a 65 on day two at La Réserve Golf Links at Heritage Golf Club.
Conditions were much more difficult than they had been in the opening round but Söderberg had the best of them in the morning and he took advantage by carding the lowest round of the day by two shots to get to ten under.
German Marcel Schneider and South African Jacques P de Villiers were the nearest challengers, one ahead of defending champion Antoine Rozner and English pair Daniel Brown and Paul Waring.
A previous graduate of both the Qualifying School and European Challenge Tour, Söderberg claimed a maiden DP World Tour win in 2019 as he defeated Rory McIlroy, Kalle Samooja, Lorenzo Gagli and Andres Romero in a five-way play-off to win the Omega European Masters.
The Swede has not added to that tally since but six top tens meant he enjoyed his best season on Tour in 2023, finishing 25th on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.
And he has brought that form to the Indian Ocean in his first event of the 2024 campaign, following an opening 69 which saw him two over after 11 holes with nine birdies in round two to top the leaderboard.
"I didn't think I would be where I am at this point yesterday," he said.
"It's an exciting course, there's a lot of holes where you can make eagles or doubles and triples, it's a nice variation.
"I'm treating this week as a chill week, a little vacation on the side so I'm just going to try and do the same. It may be harder when you're in contention but the plan is going to stay the same - I'll maybe have a couple of beers on the beach."
Söderberg birdied the tenth and then made four in a row from the 12th before picking up another shot on the 18th to turn in 30.
Two more birdies arrived on the second and sixth and while he made a double-bogey on the seventh, he followed it with a two-putt gain on eighth.
"It was just one of those days where it just felt kind of easy," he said.
"It was windy but I was hitting my driver really well, I took care of the par fives and the two driveable par fours.
"My short game was really good those times I missed the green and the putting was solid so it was a good day."
De Villiers made a fast start with birdies on the tenth, 12th and 13th but made bogeys on the 14th and 15th. A gain on the 18th saw him turn in 34 and he added another on the fifth before an eagle on the eighth saw him sign for a 67.
Schnieder's 68 saw him sandwich birdies on the sixth and eighth with bogeys on the first and ninth but he recovered well to make gains on the 12th, 14th, 15th and 17th.
Brown started his round with a double-bogey on the tenth but followed it with a pair of birdies and added further gains on the second, fifth, eighth and ninth in a second consecutive 68.
Waring saw birdies on the 12th and 15th wiped out by a double on the 14th before he dropped a shot on the second and made a triple on the fourth. Gains on the fifth, sixth and seventh then dragged him back into contention with a 73.
Frenchman Rozner bounced back from a bogey on the third with birdies on the eighth and 12th but made a double after a ragged tee-shot on the 13th and dropped another shot on the 16th in a 74.
South Africans Dylan Naidoo, Louis Oosthuizen, Lyle Rowe and Wilco Nienaber, Portuguese Pedro Figueiredo and Dane Jeff Winther were at seven under.
