Sebastián García Rodríguez has won. And he has done it when it matters most. The Spanish golfer has conquered the Hangzhou Open this Sunday and has secured his swift return to the DP World Tour. The victory in China allows him to jump from 21st to 7th place in the Road to Mallorca with only the grand final of the HotelPlanner Tour remaining, which will be held in two weeks in Alcanada.
As you know, the top 20 in the ranking after the Palma tournament will move up to the first division. No one can take him out of there now. Similarly, Quim Vidal and Rocco Repetto, ranked 12th and 14th in the Road, have it practically secured. For the former, it’s mathematical, and for the latter, it’s almost impossible to be removed from there. It would take a miracle. An excellent Spanish harvest in 2025 in the Challenge Tour as always. And there will still be opportunities for Adri Arnaus and Víctor Pastor, also qualified for the Mallorca Final.
Sebas has hit the jackpot on a sublime Sunday. He started from sixth position, three strokes off the lead. He needed an almost perfect round. He delivered a scorecard of 67 strokes, with six birdies and a solitary bogey, and managed to sneak into a tough three-way playoff alongside Austrian Maximiliam Steinlechner and Peruvian Julián Perico. The difference between winning the playoff or finishing second alone was enormous. A victory ensured a pleasant trip to Mallorca with the promotion tasks completed, while second place required continued effort in the Final to secure the top 20. Almost night and day.
Sebas won the playoff on the second hole. They played the 18th on both occasions. He achieved it with two pars. In the first attempt, Steinlechner fell with a bogey, and in the second, Perico did the same. This is hitting the jackpot on October 19th. The key to the success of the golfer from Robledal was in the three consecutive birdies on holes 7, 8, and 9. This boosted his round and allowed him to stay alive despite a bogey on the 12th. Then, he finished the job extraordinarily with two more birdies on holes 14 and 17, when the pressure was at its highest.
It is the third victory of the season for Spanish golf in the HotelPlanner Tour. Today’s win in China joins those achieved by Quim Vidal in India at the start of the season and Rocco Repetto in Andalucía at the beginning of June. If the promotion of the three to the DP World Tour is confirmed, it will equal the record for Spanish golfers graduating from the Challenge, set at three since 2006, the year Rafa Cabrera Bello, Álvaro Quirós, and Juan Parrón moved up.
There has been no record in the number of Spaniards who will compete in the circuit’s grand Final, reserved for the top 45 in the ranking. Finally, there will be five. The already mentioned Sebas, Vidal, Repetto, Arnaus, and Pastor. Much credit also goes to Víctor Pastor this Sunday. The golfer from Córdoba, who started with a chance to win the tournament, struggled greatly in the final round but achieved a sufficient result to at least make it to the Mallorca Final and earn an extra life.
Pastor took the excitement to the limit. He finished sixth alone in the Hangzhou Open, after delivering a scorecard of 72 strokes, and just made it to 45th place, with less than two points advantage over the 46th classified, in this case, Belgian Matthis Besard. Imagine what less than two points mean in a season where around 25 tournaments have been played. It’s impressive.
Víctor had a tremendously eventful start to his round. He made a bogey and a double bogey on holes 3 and 4, signed a birdie on the 5th, but then came another double bogey on the 6th. At that moment, he was four over for the day, out of any fight to be in Mallorca. However, his reaction was fabulous. He made a partial of four under from there to the end, with five birdies and a solitary bogey, and managed to at least secure the first major goal, being in Alcanada and giving himself one last chance. Of course, there he will have to finish at least in the top 3 to have any chance of moving up to the DP World Tour, but at least it’s in his hands. It’s the first time the Córdoba native based in Málaga has made it to the Challenge Final.
Also there, as we mentioned, will be Adri Arnaus, ranked 38th in the Road. The one from Moià will also have to fight for victory in Palma if he wants to have a chance to move up to the DP World Tour. He still has a chance. A fourth Spaniard in the first division would break the absolute record for promotions in a season. The downside of this Sunday was for Albert Boneta, who missed out on the top 45 with a final round of 69 strokes, with four birdies and a bogey. He was about 20 points short of 45th place. He would have needed at least a couple more birdies or to have added them at some other point in the season. Also missing out on the final was Navarrese Borja Virto after a notable week. He finished in 14th place with four rounds under par. The problem is that Virto had left himself too much work for this last tournament. He ends the year in 59th place in the ranking.
