With only eight events remaining on the 2018 Road to Ras Al Khaimah, we take a look at some of the exciting storylines that are emerging down the home-stretch on the European Challenge Tour.
That Hansen
It has been quite the campaign for Denmark’s Joachim B. Hansen. The great Dane leads the way on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah, bolstered by his two wins — first at the Turkish Airlines Challenge in April, and then again on home-soil at the Made In Denmark Challenge presented by Ejner Hessel.
No player on the Challenge Tour has been more consistent, and complimenting his triumphs are an array of podium finishes, which include two solo-seconds, a tied second and a tied third. Across his 16 starts, the 28 year old has finished inside the top 15 an astounding 12 times and has earned a whopping €170,706.
The flying Finn
The only player with more wins than Hansen this season is Finland’s Kim Koivu, who triumphed twice in August — in a thrilling play-off victory on home-soil at the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge and then again at last week’s Rolex Trophy — to go with his early-season win at the Belt and Road Colourful Yunnan Open. The trio of trophies have earned the 27 year old automatic promotion onto European Tour for the remainder of this season and for 2019 by way of the three-win rule.
The 100k club
There are two other Challenge Tour players who have earned more than €100,000 thus far on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah. Italian Lorenzo Gagli was the Rankings leader for a long time after storming out of the gates with a win at the season-opening Barclays Kenya Open and a tied-second place finish at the Turkish Airlines Challenge. Following a top ten showing at the Rolex Trophy, he currently sits in third position behind Koivu with €110, 483.
Sebastian Soderberg is the other six-figure earner on the Challenge Tour so far. The 27 year old began the season on-form — tying for sixth place in Kenya and adding a second-place finish at the D+D REAL Czech Challenge, before stepping into the winners’ circle at the Italian Challenge presented by Cashback World. The Swede won on Europe’s top developmental tour in 2016 and seems poised to make a return to the European Tour where he will look to improve on his 2017 season.
Bubble boys
Completing the season inside the top 15 on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah and graduating onto the European Tour is the goal of every Challenge Tour player, and with only 10,000 points separating Marcel Schneider in the tenth spot and Minkyu Kim, outside the magic number in 18th, drama might be the only certainty coming down the home-stretch.
Jack Singh Brar and Anton Karlsson, 11thand 15threspectively, have seen their positions slowly solidify throughout the season, while Jens Fahrbring in 12thand Oscar Lengden in 13thhave been losing ground since the 2018 Challenge Tour International Schedule reached the halfway point.
Dimitrios Papadatos initially flew over from Australia to play in the56º Open de Portugal @ Morgado Golf Resortas a “one-off”, but after winning the event he has enjoyed a full season inside the top 15 of the Rankings. However, with several key events still to come, and time running out, he will need his best stuff to hold onto the 14thspot on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah.
Neither of the two players immediately outside the top 15, Adri Arnaus and Eirik Tage Johansen, have wins this season, which should only make them even more of a threat to close strong as they have both demonstrated a remarkable level of consistency and have earned their position on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah through gains week after week. A win would be all either player needs to end up on the European Tour next year.
