Sebastian Söderberg’s thrilling victory at the Omega European Masters capped off a stellar week for the European Challenge Tour Class of 2018.
The Swede, who finished fifth on the Road to Mallorca Rankings in 2018, captured his first win in style after coming through a five-man play-off, which featured World Number Two Rory McIlroy, plus two of his fellow graduates from last season, Lorenzo Gagli and Kalle Samooja.
Spaniard Adri Arnaus, who finished second on the Challenge Tour last year, also shot up the leaderboard on the final day with a spectacular round of 64, to make it four 2018 graduates in the top seven in global golf’s strongest field last week.
Söderberg ignited his rise up the professional ranks through a strong campaign on the Challenge Tour last year, which was highlighted by a win at the Italian Challenge presented by Cashback World, alongside two second place finishes.
The 28-year-old’s latest triumph makes him the second player from the Class of 2018 to find the winner’s circle on the European Tour following David Law’s emotional win at the ISPS Handa Vic Open earlier this season.
With Robert MacIntyre at 15th in the Race to Dubai, and Arnaus now inside the top 100 on the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career, there seems to be no stopping last year’s graduates.
The Omega European Masters came just a week after 2018 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year winner Erik van Rooyen captured his first European Tour title at the Scandinavian Invitation, joining Aaron Rai and Marcus Kinhult as winners from the Class of 2017 this season.
Van Rooyen’s triumph represented a similarly rapid rise for the South African, who demonstrated his ability to compete on the biggest stage in an impressive 2017 season on the Challenge Tour, which featured one victory at the Hainan Open and seven top ten finishes, including a tie for third at the season-ending Challenge Tour Grand Final.
There are now only seven events remaining on the Road to Mallorca, and the current crop of future stars are looking to follow in the footsteps of the recent graduates by securing one of the life-changing 15 European Tour cards that will be awarded after the Challenge Tour Grand Final.
