Ricardo Gouveia returns to the DP World Tour after winning twice during the 2023 Road to Mallorca season to secure promotion.
The Portuguese claimed a two-stroke victory at the Abu Dhabi Challenge in April after eagling the final hole, before he ran out a three-stroke victor at the Hainan Open in China, the penultimate event of the season.
The 32-year-old is no stranger to success on the Challenge Tour and is now second on the all-time list of Challenge Tour wins with seven having picked up his first back in 2014. He admits his victory in the UAE at the start of the year helped to shape his season.
“I’m very happy to get my tour card back,” he said. “It was a long season, and a bit inconsistent but I had two wins so I’m really glad with how the season ended up.
“The first win was key for me. It changed my schedule for the year as I was planning to play more DP World Tour events this year but with the win that changed and I started playing more on the Challenge Tour.
“I played well all week in Abu Dhabi. The way I finished on the Sunday was pretty special and it turned out to be a really important week for me.
“Going to China, I was 25th so I knew I had to have a strong finish to guarantee my playing rights. I played really well on the back nine, made some clutch putts and ended up winning by three. It put me up to 10th in the Rankings going into the last event and guaranteed my spot next year on the DP World Tour.
Gouveia has earned promotion from the Challenge Tour before, doing so in 2015 by finishing the season as the Number One and then again in 2021 as the Number Two, with consistency a key focus for him as he looks to add to the ten top tens he’s recorded on the DP World Tour to date.
“I’ve had some great performances this year and some not very good ones, but I think that’s golf,” he added. “I’ve got to be more consistent next year and bring the bad rounds to a better level and hopefully I’ll be good to go.
“I’ve got to be consistent throughout the whole season. It’s a long season and I’ll have to grind it out and stay disciplined throughout the year and hopefully good things will come.”
Gouveia ended the year by missing the cut in his sole outing on the DP World Tour but will look to kick-start his campaign when he tees it up in January.
