The first of the three remaining events left on the 2024 Road to Mallorca gets underway at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club from October 10-13. As the race to secure promotion to golf’s Global Tour heats up, here are three players to look out for this week in China…
Form Horse – Oliver Lindell
In-form Oliver Lindell hasn’t finished outside the top ten in any of his last five starts on the Challenge Tour since September. The 26-year-old Finn was in contention for a first Challenge Tour win in the D+D REAL Czech Challenge last week, eventually finishing in a tie for second. With that result, he moved up eight spots to ninth place on the Road to Mallorca Rankings and could move higher still if he continues to play true to form this week.
Local Boy – Zihao Jin
Jian Zihao is arguably the breakout star on the China Tour since he came through the Tour’s Qualifying School in February. The 25-year-old has won twice – emerging victorious at the Shandong Cultural and Tourism Jinan Open and Guangdong Gaoyao Jinli Open in June and September – and has notched up two other top-five finishes. He currently leads the China Tour’s Order of Merit and will be making his Challenge Tour debut at the Hainan Open this week.
The Outsider – Maxence Giboudot
Maxence Giboudot made a massive jump up the Road to Mallorca Rankings after his tied-second finish at last week’s D+D Real Czech Challenge propelled him 57 spots up to 63rd place. The 20-year-old had only made the cut on eight occasions in his last 24 starts before he secured his best result in the Czech Republic to make sure of his place in the field this week. He needs to ride his rich vein of form to ensure a final push into the promotion places.
