What’s the best way to secure graduation to the European Tour? Well, winning the first event of the season with the biggest purse of the year is not a bad way to do it.
And that is exactly what happened to Lorenzo Gagli. The Italian had earned a European Tour card through Qualifying School in 2017 and he took an enormous step to retaining it in his first European Challenge Tour outing of 2018 at the Barclays Kenya Open.
He was pushed all the way by Swede Jens Fahrbring, who carded a closing 67 to force a play-off with the Italian, but it was Gagli who went on to triumph.
The pair returned to the par three 13thhole after regulation play and three successive pars were enough for the Italian to secure victory as Fahrbring bogeyed the 191-yard hole on the third attempt.
Gagli’s 80,000-point windfall meant he hit the summit of the Road to Ras Al Khaimah Rankings and after a tied second finish in his next event, the Turkish Airlines Challenge, he kept hold of top spot until finally being overtaken by Joachim B. Hansen in July, when he won the Made In Denmark Challenge presented By Ejner Hessel.
The Turkish Airlines Challenge was Gagli’s last appearance on the Challenge Tour until he teed it up at the Rolex Trophy in August, finishing in a tie for eighth place, as he instead turned his attention to the European Tour.
The 33 year old’s best finish on the top tier came at the Italian Open, a Rolex Series event, as he placed in a tie for 14thalongside Scott Hend, Jacques Kruyswijk, Miguel Ángel Jiménez and Thomas Pieters.
Missed cuts followed at the Kazakhstan Open presented by ERG, the Hainan Open and the Foshan Open before he travelled to the Middle East for the Ras Al Khaimah Challenge Tour Grand Final.
He tied for 30that Al Hamra Golf Club as he secured 13thplace on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah and a place on the European Tour for the 2019 season.
In his first event of the 2019 season, Florence-born Gagli finished in a tie for 20th at the Honma Hong Kong Open.
