The first major tour of the Challenge Tour season came to an end last Sunday and it’s a good time to take stock of the start of the season in the second division of the European Circuit. The tour consisted of four consecutive tournaments in the land of Mandela and are jointly organised with the Sunshine Tour. The Challenge now takes a two-week break before flying to India for a mini two-week tour.
The Swedes are the big winners of the tour. Two of the four tournaments have gone to the Nordic country and currently leading the ranking is the champion of the second tournament of the year, Mikael Lindberg who is looking to regain his playing rights on the DP World Tour after losing them last season. A lot of equality. None of the top seven in the ranking have achieved more than one top 10. Everything very distributed.
If we can talk about Sweden being the big protagonist of this tour, we can say that South Africa itself are the big losers. In the five years that this tour has been organised, they have never finished without victories from local players. This season they have not achieved it and they say goodbye empty-handed.
Not at the Scandinavian level but there have been positive weeks for the Spanish Armada. Right now we would have one of our own within the big goal of the year which is none other than to achieve one of the twenty coveted DP World Tour cards. The one who would currently earn a place in the first division is none other than Víctor Pastor, who is currently 16th in the Road to Mallorca. The Spaniard who was able to play the full tour made the cuts in Cape Town and at the Dimension Data Pro Am. Both weeks he went out on Sunday with serious chances of victory. The first week he finished within the top twenty and at Fancourt Golf State he achieved the third podium of his career on the Challenge Tour.
The Spaniard was very unlucky in the last tournament of the tour as in addition to facing gastrointestinal problems during the week, the reality is that after a good first day he faced a storm in the afternoon shift of the second day that made the game practically impossible. Very few players who went out at that time managed to make the cut. The first satisfied with the South African tour is Víctor himself: “Getting into the top twenty of the year is the big goal I have, that’s how we have planned it and being well placed from the beginning is something very positive. There is a lot of year left but now it’s time to try to keep that card and move up as many places in the ranking” summarised the happy Cordovan. No wonder.
Taking a look at the set of tournaments and the game displayed, Pastor summarises it like this: “The first week I didn’t play at the level that is needed but afterwards I was playing very solid. The great work we have done in the preseason has been reflected on the golf course. Two very positive weeks and even the last one that I didn’t make the cut I think I played at a good level but I didn’t have any luck with the shift or with a couple of shots that escaped me. We have to keep working to stay up there” concluded the Andalusian. Víctor will play the PGA of Spain championship which is held in his Córdoba before heading to New Delhi.
As we say, after these four weeks we have a Spaniard within the coveted twenty cards, but we also have two others within the top 45 players of the year that gives access to the grand finale of Mallorca. In 28th place we find another Andalusian, Ángel Ayora. The 19-year-old received invitations for three of the four tournaments of the tour and has taken full advantage of them. In two of those three tournaments he had serious chances of victory. At the start of the season he closed the third round in fourth position going out in the last matches on Sunday. The same situation was repeated at the end of the tour. Angel can only value these weeks very optimistically: “They have been weeks of a lot of learning, I have started on the right foot and with good feelings of play. The most positive thing is that we have seen that the work of these past months is paying off”. And so much.
Weeks of a lot of learning and also of knowing how well the Circuit players spend it. In both cases he lacked to finish and he touched with the fingers of the hands two top ten. Angel acknowledges that there is room for improvement especially in what in a fun way in his team they have called “Angeladas”. Small disconnections that prevent him from keeping the pace on the board. “I still make very silly mistakes that I call “Angeladas” because they are mistakes that only I make, especially in approach and putts” acknowledges the funny Ayora himself, “but in summary I leave with good feelings of my game and eager to apply what I have learned in the next tournaments”. At the level shown, the top ten places are going to fall out of his hands. He has only played five tournaments as a professional and is already rubbing shoulders with the best of the Challenge.
The other one who would currently have a place in November in Alcanada has done it precisely without playing in South Africa, Sebas García. After the revolutionary change of regulations, his good results in Bahrain (12th) and Qatar (top 30) would allow him to sneak into the Final of the Road to Mallorca right now. His status as a dual ranking player means that the weeks he plays on the DP World Tour and there is a Challenge tournament he can score points for both circuits. At a certain point and if things went badly during the year on the DP World Tour, he could try to earn his rights through the Challenge. After confirming it with Sebas himself, the player does not currently consider this route. He would need to play, let’s not forget, at least four tournaments during the year.
Returning to the ranking of Angel Ayora who is currently 28th, the reality is that his real position is better since Darius Van Driel appears within this ranking and as winner of the DP World Tour he already has his rights assured in the first division. Joe Dean also appears among the top twenty who is likely not to end up playing in the Challenge. The new regulations come into play and it’s time to adapt, but Angel is even closer to the big goal.
Just missing a place among the top 45 is Joel Moscatel (51) who has shown regularity and solidity in this second start of the season after his brilliant Australian tour. Four tournaments played, three cuts surpassed and a brilliant top 20 a few days ago in the DP World Tour of Kenya. Right now just four points separate him from the Final of the Road to Mallorca.
Quim Vidal has been another of the great protagonists of the Armada in South Africa. The Catalan has signed a level much higher than the final results have marked and is a step away from giving a big hit in the Challenge. Let’s not forget that it’s his rookie season on the circuit. Even so, a valuable top 20 helps him to add his first points of the year and that at the end of the season can be worth their weight in gold.
Lucas Vacarisas played the first three tournaments of the year in South Africa without being able to make the cut in any of them, however in Kenya a few days ago he was able to add his first points of the year by getting into the top forty of the tournament despite a painful wrist injury that prevented him from performing on Sunday. We will see if this untimely injury prevents him from getting to India in time. Along with Lucas, the rest of the Spaniards in the fray on this tour such as Alejandro Cañizares, Borja Virto and Javi Sainz, will seek to reconnect with their best level and start climbing positions in the table as soon as possible.
Last year at this time only Manu Elvira was within the top twenty and in the end Iván Cantero ended up accompanying him. Hopefully equal the two cards from last year and why not dream of some more… It won’t be for lack of level.
