When Haydn Porteous and Brandon Stone embraced on the 18thgreen at last April’s Barclays Kenya Open, it is unlikely that even in their wildest dreams they would have discussed the probability of both becoming European Tour champions within nine months.
A remarkable fortnight in their home country, though, has established the South African pair – two of the shining stars of the 2015 Challenge Tour season – among the leading lights in the 2016 Race to Dubai.
First came Stone’s emotional win in the BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni, the Pretoria native managing to control his emotions through a dramatic final round to triumph by two shots.
A week later and it was the turn of his good friend Porteous – unlike Stone, not a European Tour Member at that point – to prevail by two shots in his home city at the Joburg Open, claiming a spot in this year’s Open Championship in the process.
The young pair – Stone, at 22, is 15 months older than 21 year old Porteous – found themselves intrinsically linked throughout their respective 2015 seasons on the Challenge Tour, with the year for each of them bookended by triumph and heartbreak.
For Porteous, it was unfortunately in that order, as a season-opening victory put him in the top 15 of the Road to Oman Rankings for the whole campaign until he was narrowly edged out at the final event of the year, the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final.
Stone enjoyed the reverse, the disappointment of being beaten by Porteous in a play-off in Kenya turning to joy in November after securing sixth place in Oman to finish 14thin the Rankings and earn a European Tour card.
Porteous, who then missed out again at the European Tour’s Qualifying School Final Stage a week later, has now secured European Tour playing rights until the end of the 2017 season.
The pair are merely the latest Challenge Tour success stories, following the likes of Byeong Hun An – winner of the BMW PGA Championship and the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award in 2015 – and two-time Major Champion Martin Kaymer, adding further evidence that the Challenge Tour is the top developmental tour in Europe.
