2024 MCB Tour Championship prelude

The 2024 MCB Tour Championship is set to deliver another unforgettable chapter as final preparations take shape at Constance Belle Mare Plage in Mauritius. Last year, the Legends course witnessed one of the most memorable moments in the golfing calendar, with the entire MCB Tour Championship and Legends Tour campaign decided on the very last hole. From December 5–10, all eyes will once again turn to this Indian Ocean paradise, eager to see if similar drama unfolds.

Peter Baker was 231 yards from the pin on the 18th, his final hole of the season, and knew everything was on the line. The Englishman and Adilson da Silva were first and second on the Legends Tour’s order of merit and were just eight yards apart on the fairway of the Legend course’s par-5 closing hole.

Baker was a stroke in front in the tournament so was in charge, because his rival had to win the tournament and hope the Englishman was lower than second to claim the order of merit. But if the 1993 Ryder Cup player found the water that circles the green, a bogey would drop him to third and leave the door ajar for the Brazilian.

Would Baker play safe and lay up to make sure of the par or would he go for glory and attempt to win the tournament and Order of Merit with one shot?

A magnificent five-wood to within six feet settled both titles and Baker celebrated by punching the air.

It was another order of merit disappointment for Da Silva at a course he thrives on. But 12 months on, he looks poised to reap reward for his patience and hard work. The Brazilian leads the Order of Merit by a whopping 762.6 points, ahead of Scott Hend, Baker and Joakim Haeggman.

Da Silva commandingly leads the Merit race thanks to a season in which he has won twice, been runner-up twice, third once and has chalked up four top 10s.

It is a campaign of remarkable consistency, and the 2022 Rookie of the Year’s accuracy off the tee is perfectly suited to the Legends course. He will be the man to beat in every sense at the traditional season-ending event on the edge of the Indian Ocean, but while the Order of Merit title for the John Jacobs Trophy looks like his, there could barely be a more exciting line-up for the event itself.

The battle for the title – which carries a prize fund of €1,250,000 this year – promises to be epic.

Adding more than a sprinkling of superstar status to the event is a roll call of Major champions that will ensure the eyes of the golf world will be on the east coast of Mauritius in the first week of December. Former Masters champion Ian Woosnam, European legend Colin Montgomerie – now a senior Major champion – and ex-Open champion Paul Lawrie will all tee it up at Constance Belle Mare Plage.

Michael Campbell, the 2005 US Open champion, plus senior Major winners Stephen Dodd and Roger Chapman will also compete, and add to the array of talent at the top of the Legends Tour’s Order of Merit.

Hend, the Australian who has taken so quickly to life as a senior, defending champion Baker and Haeggman – one of the best ball-strikers on tour – will be three of the favourites in Mauritius.

James Kingston – Order of Merit champion in 2022 thanks to a second-place finish at Constance Belle Mare Plage – and his fellow South African Keith Horne will be two more players to watch.

The irrepressible former Ryder Cup player Jarmo Sandelin, the champion here in 2019 thanks to a closing 65, and the contrasting steady Englishman Robert Coles will fancy their chances. And Germany’s Thomas Gogele is always a good watch.

The Alliance Series also climaxes at Constance Belle Mare Plage, meaning amateur golfers will mix with legendary professional golfers on the fairways and around the resort. And the Legend course – designed by former Tour player Hugh Baiocchi of South Africa and renovated in the last three years to widespread acclaim – will as ever be a breathtaking stage for the conclusion of the Legends Tour.

The scene is set – now we await to see if the fireworks of 2023 are repeated, and who follows the likes of former Open champion Tom Lehman, Ryder Cup icon Montgomerie, former Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn and 10-time PGA Tour winner David Frost in winning at Constance Belle Mare Plage.

Follow the event here.