The Club de Golf Alcanada, in Palma de Mallorca, hosts the grand final of the Challenge Tour from this Thursday, a tournament that brings together the top 47 players of the year. Initially, the cut always closes with the top 45 of the Road to Mallorca, but since there are two golfers in that group who already have the DP World Tour card for next year through the Race to Dubai (Rasmus Neergaard Petersen and Robin Williams), it is extended to two more players.
The only absence of all those who can play this final is, precisely, the South African Williams. It is worth highlighting the effort of Neergaard Petersen. He has travelled from Korea, where he played last week, to Mallorca after five consecutive weeks of competing. He wants to win the ranking and it is commendable.
As it stands, there are 46 players in Alcanada with a single objective: to secure the DP World Tour card for 2025. The top 22 will achieve it (Neergaard and Williams do not count). It is true that many have it practically secured already. History suggests that the top fifteen can sleep easy this week, but beyond that, anyone can achieve it or miss out.
Before the action begins, we have decided to whet the appetite of the lads in the Challenge Final. How? Quite simply, by recalling what the players who were in the same situation last year achieved and secured the DP World Tour card through the Challenge. Pay attention because they have done very well. The average grade could be a high pass. Let’s get to it…
– Last year, the following 20 players secured the card through the Challenge Tour: Marco Penge, Casey Jarvis, Manu Elvira, Ugo Coussaud, Jesper Svensson, Adam Blomme, Lorenzo Scalise, Andrea Pavan, Matteo Manassero, Ricardo Gouveia, Alex Fitzpatrick, Tom Vaillant, Frederic Lacroix, Francesco Laporta, Will Enefer, Iván Cantero, Joel Girrbach, Sam Bairstow, Brandon Stone, and Max Rottluff.
– Of those 20 players, no less than 16 have managed to retain full playing rights, or in other words, have finished among the top 114 in the Race to Dubai. An 80 percent success rate is quite an achievement. Only Max Rottluff, who narrowly missed out, Scalise, Enefer, and Blomme have fallen short. However, Blomme’s case is different as he has only played 12 tournaments, so he will almost certainly have a medical exemption for next year.
– Of all of them, nine, practically half if we exclude Blomme, have managed to get into the first playoff in Abu Dhabi, that is, among the top 76. Furthermore, there are currently six qualified for the Dubai Final.
– In total, the players who have come from the Challenge Tour this year have achieved three victories, four second places, seven third places, and have finished between fourth and tenth 39 times. The total number of top 10 finishes is 53.
– The total earnings in the Race to Dubai of the golfers who graduated from the Challenge last year amount to €11,210,832.91.
– They have played a total of six Majors in 2024, spread across four players: Casey Jarvis (US Open), Svensson (PGA and The Open), Manassero (US Open and The Open), and Bairstow (US Open). The best result was achieved by Matteo at The Open, finishing in 31st place.
– With the regular season completed and the Abu Dhabi and Dubai tournaments still to come, the best of the Challenge graduates in 2023 is Manassero. The Italian is in sixth place in the Race to Dubai and has his PGA Tour card for next year very much secured. In a similar situation is the Swede Svensson, eighth in the DP World Tour ranking. Further back, but with intact chances of securing the American card, are Lacroix (24th), Bairstow (37th), Alex Fitzpatrick (41st), or Ugo Coussaud (42nd). They have the best chances, but in reality, all those who are qualified for Abu Dhabi have their opportunity.
– In short, the carrot is there. Last year’s graduates have shown that they arrive at the DP World Tour more than well-prepared. There are plenty of things at stake this week in Mallorca…
