The Challenge Tour is nearing the midpoint of the season. 14 out of the 29 events that make up the calendar have already taken place and the circuit is facing its last break of the season. From the 18th of July to the 3rd of November, there will be three and a half months in which the games will be played without interruption, one event after another. Take a breath.
It’s a time for pause and reflection. How has the first half of the year been? What assessment can be made of the performance of the Spanish players? It’s a good opportunity to draw some initial conclusions.
The main goal of the year for any member of the Challenge is to secure one of the twenty cards that grant access to the DP World Tour. A previous and also quite important step is to qualify for the final of the Road to Mallorca. The 45 best players of the year will compete in the last event of the year in Alcanada. Last year, the English player Marco Penge arrived outside the top twenty and ended up winning the circuit.
Speaking in general terms, it can be said that the Spanish balance is more than positive. The Armada is facing this break at the best possible time. Joel Moscatel has just achieved his second victory of the year and five of our players finished within the top 22 of the last event held in Vaudreuil. In addition to these two victories of the Catalan, ten other top ten finishes from the Armada must be added.
Joel Moscatel is, logically, within the top twenty of the year and four other Spaniards are within the grand final of Mallorca. It’s not a small booty at this time of the year. Moreover, it should be taken into account that Joel has practically already sealed his promotion to the DP World Tour. That trump card can no longer be taken away from him. The other four players who would currently play the final are Ángel Ayora (31st), Borja Virto (38th), Lucas Vacarisas (41st) and Quim Vidal (43rd). In addition, Víctor Pastor (48th) is on the verge of achieving this goal.
Joel’s season so far is outstanding. Two victories, another top ten and in this last stretch he has made seven consecutive cuts. Moscatel can already consider himself a practical member of the DP World Tour next season. We’ll see if he doesn’t achieve it sooner by winning for the third time in the Challenge. These results also put him on the podium of the year, only behind Rasmus Neergard-Petersen and John Parry. These three geniuses share 6 of the 14 victories of the year and are, without a doubt, the big names of the first half of the year.
The second Spaniard in the table is Ángel Ayora. The Marbella native is in 31st place and is only 100 points away from the final goal. A fourth place in any event.
The 19-year-old is playing the circuit thanks to invitations and is responding wonderfully. He is not intimidated or discouraged. He likes to live with pressure and is doing very well. In the Challenge Tour, only seven invitations are granted throughout the year so that no player abuses and lives off them. This rule has an exception. If the player plays well in these events and reaches the same number of points that last year served to keep the Challenge card, that player will be able to receive the invitations that the Circuit wishes. Ángel has achieved this first great goal of the season. Thanks to his performances in the Challenge Tour and in the DP World Tour, where he has made the four cuts in the tournaments he has played, he already has 262 points. Last year the last card was kept with almost 256. Now all that remains is to dream. Will he be able to ascend to the first category in his first year?
If there is a downside to Ayora’s year, it is that he has lacked the ability to finish with a great Sunday the weeks he has been dreaming of something bigger. He has plenty of time.
Borja Virto, Quim Vidal and Lucas Vacarisas form a triumvirate with very similar characteristics. The three are within the final of Mallorca and are in a position to fight for the card, but they are in the tail end, 39th, 42nd and 44th respectively. Only 45 play Alcudia. They can’t get distracted.
All three have gone from less to more in the season and their best results have been in France in the last two weeks. To match, they almost have the same cuts made during the season. Virto and Vacarisas have made seven, and Vidal, six.
The Navarrese has accumulated five consecutive cuts playing at a great level. A fifth place and three top 15s in this stretch have boosted him in a classification. Quim Vidal achieved just two days ago the best result of his career in the Circuit finishing third and just one stroke behind Moscatel. He has climbed almost forty places in one go and after the well-deserved break he will seek to maintain the momentum. Finally, Lucas Vacarisas added a fourth place in Brittany that puts him fully in the fight.
The one who wants to join this group is Víctor Pastor (48th). He is currently on the verge of the final. The Cordovan started the year strong and has gradually been losing ground. He has been among the top forty-five all year and after a negative streak of results he has been falling in the table until leaving the top positions. The positive thing is that he has already shown that he has the level to be with the best and that he has half the year ahead of him.
Javi Sainz (65th) is another player who is knocking on the door of a great result. A difficult start to the year prevented him from scoring hardly any points, but for the past two months the Basque has had his engine well oiled. The Basque has made nine consecutive cuts and still has the pending task of the weekends. As soon as he adjusts his game on Saturday and Sunday, he will fight for big things.
Alejandro Cañizares is the Spanish player with full circuit rights who is suffering the most. He has only made two cuts and his best position is a 36th in the Czech Republic.
A special mention deserves David Borda who, without having almost any playing rights, is in 90th place thanks to his fifth place in Sancti Petri. The Spaniard will have to take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself to hit a big shot that will shoot him up the table and also open the door to more invitations.
A year ago, two Spaniards, Iván Cantero and Manu Elvira achieved playing rights in the DP World Tour through the Challenge. We’ll see if this year we can match or, why not, surpass this figure. It’s not going badly.
