Having watched Kristoffer Broberg’s majestic rise to The European Tour, thanks to three Challenge Tour wins in five appearances, two-time winner this year Gary Stal insists he is just focussed on finishing in the top ten on the Rankings at the end of the season…
The young Frenchman has been one of the breakthrough stars of the 2012 Challenge Tour season but his impressive achievements were eclipsed in recent weeks by the heroics of Swede Broberg.
After winning his second title at the Credit Suisse Challenge in July, Stal experienced a sudden dip in form and has since only made two cuts in five tournaments. He could only watch as Broberg gained a fast-track pass to The European Tour and this week he will be looking to emulate the 26 year old by claiming a third win in the M2M Russian Challenge Cup.
But Stal says that he is not putting all his eggs in one basket in search of that all-important third victory after what has already been a swift ascension through the tiers of European professional golf, and puts a top ten finish in the Challenge Tour Rankings at the top of his list of priorities for the remainder of the year.
“My objective at the moment is just to stay in the top ten on the Challenge Tour Rankings,” said the 20 year old. “I will certainly be trying to get a third win because every week I want to win but I just need to focus on improving my overall game at the moment.
“Maybe it’s better to stay on the Challenge Tour for a whole season but maybe not. I have no idea because I have never experienced it and I have not yet taken that step to The European Tour, but what I do know is that the Challenge Tour is a really good experience for me.
“At the moment I don’t see myself getting that third win because I’m not playing so well. It was an excellent few weeks for Broberg and he did really well to get three wins so quickly. He’s a really good player but for me, I just want to play well and we will see what happens.”
Stal has made his name on the Challenge Tour as an aggressive and talented putter but it has been his biggest strength which has let him down of late. He is hoping to put that right this week at the stunning Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club.
“I’m looking forward to this week,” he said. “It’s a great course here so I can’t wait to get out there. My form hasn’t been very good since Switzerland. My putting at the moment isn’t good.
“I just lost my confidence. It happened in Italy, at the Doubletree by Hilton Acaya Open the week after my win in Switzerland. It was a difficult week for me and I have struggled to get my confidence back since.
“I’m still playing quite well but it’s the putter that is letting me down. Maybe this week that will change and I hope so. I have been practicing a lot on my putting recently and also just working on my course management. I’ve been playing a lot of golf on the course and not so much on the range.”
With less than €2,000 separating England’s Gary Lockerbie and Sweden’s Magnus A Carlsson at the top of the Rankings and, perhaps more importantly, just €235 between Dutchman Wil Besseling in 20th place and Germany’s Max Kieffer in 21st, the third edition of the M2M Russian Challenge Cup – as well as the money-spinning Kazakhstan Open which follows it – could make or break a player’s season.
Other notable names in the field this week include former World Amateur Number One Peter Uihlein of America and two-time European Tour champion Daniel Vancsik of Argentina, who both head to the Russian capital in fine fettle after finishing third and sixth respectively at the Rolex Trophy.
Home hopes rest squarely on the broad shoulders of former World Number One tennis player Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who became a professional golfer and Vice President of the Russian Golf Federation after hanging up his tennis racket in 2003.
Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club will host the M2M Russian Challenge Cup for the third successive season. Designed by 18-time Major Champion Jack Nicklaus, the layout was recently described by European Tour player Carlos Del Moral as “the most beautiful course I have ever played”.
* Picture by Getty Images
