It’s officially the week of the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A, with 46 players teeing it up at Club de Golf Alcanada in the hope of securing one of the 20 life-changing DP World Tour cards on offer.
Here’s everything you need to know before play gets under way on Thursday…
It’s live
For the third time in the Tour’s history, the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final will be broadcast live around the world, giving fans the opportunity to watch the drama unfold. Check your local listing for when and where to watch.
Back at Club de Golf Alcanada
This week, Club de Golf Alcanada hosts the Challenge Tour’s season finale for the fourth time, and the third time in successive years. The first time came in 2019, where Italian Francesco Laporta triumphed, with Englishmen Nathan Kimsey (2022) and Marco Penge (2023) coming out on top when the it returned to the schedule.
The course at Alcanada provides the perfect test too. Designed by legendary golf course architect Robert Trent Jones Jr., the Alcúdia setup includes incredible views of the sea, mountains and the iconic lighthouse situated on a nearby island. First opened in 2003 after three years of construction, it now houses outstanding practice facilities alongside the coastal course.
The man to catch
John Parry enters the final week of the season as the Road to Mallorca Number One with 1,512 points and will be the man to catch when play gets under way on Thursday. The Englishman has had a sensational year, recording three victories to earn automatic promotion to golf’s Global Tour. It’s tight at the top though, with only 46 points separating Parry from fellow three-time winner this season, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen. In total nine players in the field could overtake Parry at the top of the Rankings by the end of the week.
All to play for
With 640 points on offer for the winner at Alcanada, any player in the field could realistically earn promotion this week, including South African Justin Walters who is the last man in the field.
There are 20 cards on offer, but interestingly, the 20th and final of those cards will go to the person 22nd in the Rankings. South African Robin Williams, and Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, will both finish the year inside the top 20, but with both players earning a better category for next year due to their performances through 2024 on the DP World Tour, their cards will go to the 21st and 22nd player in the Rankings. German Nicolai von Dellingshausen currently occupies the 22nd and final promotion place.
A chance at history
Benjamin Hébert has an opportunity to rewrite the record books this week. The Frenchman claimed victory in the Challenge Tour’s end-of-season showpiece ten years ago and could become the first person to do so twice if he were to triumph this week in Mallorca. Hébert is a serial winner on the Challenge Tour with six wins to his name, so knows what it takes to get over the line.
