Lucas Vacarisas and Joel Moscatel have entered and are going to play next week in the Magical Kenya Open, a tournament of the DP World Tour that takes place on the Muthaiga GC course. Traditionally, these are the most difficult decisions a Challenge Tour player must face, as is the case with these two Spaniards.
Let us explain. The decision is as follows: a week with tournaments in the Challenge and the DP World Tour at the same time and it turns out that, even though you have the card of the second division, due to your category, being a tournament where there are not many players, you can enter. What to play? On the European Circuit, obviously, there is more money, quite a bit more, eight times more, but on the Challenge Tour there are the points that count for the Road to Mallorca. The doubt is obvious: money or points?
Luckily, Vacarisas and Moscatel did not have to face this dilemma. The Magical Kenya Open is valid for both rankings. For example, if you finish twentieth in Nairobi you take the points of the Race to Dubai corresponding to a twentieth place in that tournament and, at the same time, you take the points of the Road to Mallorca that correspond to a twentieth place in the Challenge Tour tournament that takes place that same week, in this case the NMB Championship in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
This dual nature of the Kenyan tournament significantly facilitates the decision. There are no regrets. It is a good opportunity to even make a splash on the DP World Tour and, in addition, you can also add up for the Challenge. It’s a win win. The only doubt, some who are reading this will wonder, is that one might think it is easier to finish twentieth in a Challenge Tour tournament than in a DP World Tour one, although in this case, due to the type of tournament it is, the fields are really very even.
Similarly, the fact that the Challenge Tour is in South Africa this week makes the decision easier, as the trip to Kenya is not so complicated. However, it’s not a piece of cake either. It’s five thousand kilometres and you have to go to Johannesburg to catch a plane to Nairobi.
While Vacarisas and Moscatel have already confirmed their presence in the Magical Kenya Open, Manuel Quirós is crossing his fingers. The man from Malaga is first reserve. It is normal that he ends up entering from here to next week, but you never know and it is not exactly an easy trip to embark on unless you have confirmation that you are going to play. We will see what happens in the coming days. It would be Quirós’ debut this season. Remember that he made the cut in the School Final, but missed out on the cards. He has full category in the Challenge Tour, but has decided to wait for the circuit to come to Europe to compete. However, one does not say no to a DP World Tour tournament.
