Ni Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (-22), ni Ángel Ayora (-22). The champion of the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final held at Club de Golf Alcanada, Mallorca, was Kristoffer Reitan (-23). The Norwegian came back from a three-shot deficit this Sunday to claim his first victory in a professional tournament. If you’re going to start a winning record, it doesn’t seem like a bad place to do it.
The Dane Neergaard-Petersen, however, doesn’t leave empty-handed. He finishes as the best player of the year on the Challenge Tour 2024 by winning the Road to Mallorca. Probably, given what happened in the final round, it feels like very little at the moment, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that his season has been outstanding.
Rasmus, in his sixth consecutive week of competing, came to the tournament purely out of ambition, to give himself the chance to win the ranking, and he did it. The competitive gene runs through his veins. He will dream about the three-putt on the 18th that prevented him from going to the playoff, even the one on the 15th when he was putting for birdie to seal the tournament and ended up with a bogey. However, these two stumbles should not overshadow a fantastic season where he earned his DP World Tour card through the Challenge Tour and the Race to Dubai. The award that accredits him as the best player of the season is well deserved.
Let’s return to the tournament champion. Reitan arrived in Mallorca needing at least a fourth-place finish if he wanted to secure one of the 20 DP World Tour cards awarded at the end of the season. Very much in need. Under pressure. Well, he must have thought, “bring it on.” Victory at Alcanada and onto the DP World Tour in grand style. He finishes the year in seventh place in the annual ranking. A big hit.
The finale was heart-stopping, dramatic. As expected, though perhaps not quite as expected. The Dane had it in his hands, the Norwegian wanted to snatch it away, and Ángel Ayora, meanwhile, seemed to be falling behind, but not at all. On the 10th tee, Neergaard-Petersen had a three-shot lead over Reitan and four over Ayora. It seemed all but decided, yet what a sport this golf is.
A bogey on the 9th, missing a putt of barely a metre and a half, showed the first sign of weakness from Rasmus. From there, the golf no longer flowed as before. He got tangled with a bogey on the 12th and another on the 15th with a three-putt included. Right there, his rivals smelled blood.
Reitan made birdies on the 11th, 13th, and 15th, levelling the contest. The Marbella native, who seemed out of it, emerged to show his best version in the final four holes. What a way to rise. Birdie on the 15th with a great shot catching the green in one and birdie on the 16th with a fantastic shot. He was back in the fight for everything. Two holes remained, and he was one behind his rivals.
Ángel’s shot on the 17th was spectacular, and it’s a real shame that the putt of about four metres didn’t go in. It was very well struck. At that moment, on the 18th hole, Reitan’s birdie slipped by millimetres, finishing his tournament at -23. It was the score to beat, the same with which Rasmus went to play the 18th.
The star group reached the decisive hole. Ángel (-22) needed the birdie, no question, to give himself a chance for a playoff. His second shot was more than enough to create another four-metre opportunity. The reality is it didn’t go as expected, it broke more than he saw, and at no point did it have a chance of going in. A shame, but he can be proud of the week he’s had. He finishes the year in fourth place and closes the season with two consecutive second places plus the victory achieved in Poland.
Rasmus had a birdie putt to win the tournament from about seven metres. He overhit it a bit and left himself a somewhat tricky return of less than a metre. It certainly seemed done, but no. Against all odds, he missed it. A harsh lip-out and the end of the battle. A desolate Rasmus didn’t know where to hide. On the way to hand in his card, his face was a picture.
Reitan, who was waiting in the recording area, saw the tournament was his. No one can take away that feeling of happiness from winning as a professional. He did it, and he did it on a grand stage, against two imposing players like Ayora and Neergaard-Petersen. Long live those endings where the magic of golf continues to make it clear that any prediction is futile.
There was no victory, but both Ángel Ayora and Joel Moscatel have confirmed the DP World Tour card they had already secured before the Final. Ayora finishes in fourth place and Moscatel in tenth, after delivering a final card of 71 strokes and finishing in 23rd position.
