The inaugural ALLIANZ Open de Lyon produced one of the stories of the 2009 season, as home hero Alexandre Kaleka delivered a fairytale victory on his Challenge Tour debut. Kaleka only turned professional on July 6, 2009, at the age of 22, the day he returned home after representing France in the European Amateur Team Championships at Conwy Golf Club in Wales.
He arrived at Golf du Gouverneur on the outskirts of Lyon a couple of days later, and without so much as a practice round, he teed the ball up to strike his first shot as a professional. Eighteen holes later he returned an eight under par 63, good enough for the course record and a share of the lead.
Rounds of 67, 70 and 68 followed, and Kaleka had secured a one-stroke victory. The record books show that the Frenchman was the ninth player to win on his Challenge Tour debut, the two players preceding him in that list being Martin Kaymer and Edoardo Molinari. But Kaleka’s victory on his Challenge Tour debut trumps all those before him, as it was also his professional debut.
