With nine tournaments left on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah, the race for the top 15 places is heating up. Ahead of the action teeing off at the Rolex Trophy, here are ten key statistics for the week.
Nine – of the past ten Rolex Trophy winners have graduated to the European Tour at the end of the same season.
Three – players have gained automatic qualification to the European Tour following their victories at the Rolex Trophy. Benjamin Hebert in 2011, Kristoffer Broberg in 2012, and Nacho Elvira three years later in 2015.
Joachim B. Hansen and Kim Koivu could follow suit if they lift the famous trophy this week.
First –play-off hole decided last year’s Rolex Trophy winner as Pedro Oriol made par to claim the victory after Adrien Saddier bogeyed the par four 16th.
Seven – under par was Oriol’s final round of 65, which saw him race up the leaderboard and join the Frenchman in the play-off.
37 –of the top 40 players on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah will be teeing it up this week, including Joachim B. Hansen, who sits at the top of the rankings.
Two – eagles holed by Oriol in his final round last year. The Spaniard made them on the par five fifth and the par five 15th, two out of 19 eagles recorded during the week.
1989 – was when the Rolex Pro-Am, as it was then known, featured in the inaugural season of the Challenge Tour. The tournament is the oldest event on the Challenge Tour’s International Schedule and it was first won by American Roland Stelten.
Six – Swedes have won the Rolex Trophy. Dennis Edlund lifted the trophy in 1996 before Michael Jonzon did the same seven years later. Alex Noren claimed his only Challenge Tour victory at the Rolex Trophy in 2006 before Klas Eriksson was victorious in 2008.
Kristoffer Broberg triumphed in 2012 before Jens Dantorp claimed the title 12 months later, to seal back-to-back Swedish winners of the Rolex Trophy.
6,727 – yards is the length of the Golf Club de Genève course, which includes a 561-yard par five.
12 – winners from different countries have claimed the title. There have been a dozen players from different countries who have won the Rolex Trophy; Chile, England, Finland, France, Ireland, South Korea, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, United States and Wales.
