Welshman Rhys Davies has attributed his success in the last 12 months to the European Challenge Tour, which he believes has helped lay the foundations for a successful career at the top of the game.
The 25 year old was without a category at the beginning of the 2009 season, but won the SWALEC Wales Open on a sponsor’s invitation in July that year and went on to take the Challenge Tour by storm, triumphing again at the Fred Olsen Challenge de España and posting five more top ten finishes.
He finished fourth in the Rankings to graduate to The European Tour, and proved he could cut it at the next level by winning the Trophée Hassan II in Morocco early in the 2010 season. Three runner-up finishes followed – at the Volvo China Open, the Madrid Masters and the Celtic Manor Wales Open – and his rookie year culminated in an 18th place finish in The Race to Dubai.
According to the man himself, that remarkable early success would not have been achieved had it not been for the Challenge Tour.
He said: “The Challenge Tour was massively important for my career as it’s a great stepping stone for going on to The European Tour. You learn to play on a regular basis, week in, week out, playing on some tough courses with great competition.
“It gets you used to being a Tour pro, playing-wise and all the other stuff like planning schedules, finances, practising and training properly and looking after yourself while you’re away – things like eating and resting properly.
“The standard is so high and it helps get you ready for competing on the main Tour. There are a lot of really top-class players who a lot of the time people haven’t heard about or maybe they haven’t quite performed yet.
“The standard is high and you’ve got to be consistent and really push for a win if you want to get yourself on the main Tour. Playing on the Challenge Tour has definitely helped my progress in the last couple of years.”
Davies, who came close to successfully defending his Trophée Hassan II title this year but lost a play-off to David Horsey, said it did not come as a huge surprise how quickly he went from aspiring professional to European Tour champion.
“I played a bit on the Challenge Tour the previous season but didn’t have a great category,” said the Bridgend player, who was part of Europe’s support team at The 2010 Ryder Cup at The Celtic Manor Resort in his native Wales. “Then in 2009 I played one event in Ireland and got a top ten there, so to win in Wales wasn’t a great shock to me.
“I always felt I could come along and do it. I was ready to play, I just hadn’t had the success at the Qualifying School to give myself a good category, therefore I had no chances. But as soon as I had a chance I felt I was good enough and ready to take it, and I did.
“I think it shows just how strong the competition is on the Challenge Tour that from the class that graduated from the 2009 Challenge Tour, nine players kept their cards, four players won tournaments and one went on to be in the European Ryder Cup Team.
“So it shows that lots of guys coming from the Challenge Tour are often ready to play and compete, and that will continue to be the case year after year.”
