A look at the players back for another crack at the European Tour at the conclusion of the Road to Mallorca.
The 2021 European Challenge Tour season has reached its conclusion at the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by the R&A, with the top 20 on the Road to Mallorca earning a card for the 2022 Race to Dubai.
Among the crop of 2021 graduates are a host of players with previous European Tour experience and here we take a look at those making their return.
Ricardo Gouveia
A real star on the Challenge Tour, the Portuguese won twice in 2015 en route to finishing top of the Rankings and winning a record €251,592. His rookie season on the European Tour suggested he was set to establish himself as he finished 54th on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex but he would finish outside the top 100 in 2017 and 2018 before losing his card after four seasons on Tour. A pair of victories and six more top tens in 2021 saw him finish second on the Road to Mallorca and he will be looking to truly live up to his early promise in 2022.
Alfredo Garcia-Heredia
A Qualifying School graduate in 2008 and 2010, the Spaniard is back for third full season on Tour almost 20 years after he made his debut. A tie for fourth on home soil at the 2008 Open de España is his only top ten on the European Tour but he had his best result in a decade as he finished 12th at the Canary Islands Championship in May. On the Challenge Tour, a victory at the B-NL Challenge Trophy and four other top tens have seen him finish sixth on the Road to Mallorca and return to the European Tour at the age of 39.
Lukas Nemecz
Showed impressive nerve to birdie four of his last five holes in the last round of the Qualifying School Final Stage in 2015 to take the 25th card on the mark. He finished 180th on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex in the 2016 season and will be looking for a first European Tour top ten in a sophomore campaign that comes five years after his rookie effort. A three time runner up on the 2021 Road To Mallorca - including back to back weeks in September - the Austrian finished tenth in the Rankings.
Marcel Schneider
A 2017 Qualifying School graduate, Schneider split much of his time in 2018 between the two tours, winning the Swiss Challenge presented by Association Suisse de Golf on the Challenge Tour. Was a runner up at the co-sanctioned Austrian Open in 2020 as he finished second on the Road to Mallorca but was denied a 2021 European Tour card by the Covid-19 pandemic. Undeterred, he has claimed two Challenge Tour wins in 2021 to finish 11th on the Rankings.
Espen Kofstad
The Norwegian would have played many more European Tour events than he has had it not been for a series of injuries and he will be hoping to grasp his latest opportunity now he is fully fit. Topped the Challenge Tour Rankings in 2012 and played 30 events in 2013 - including his sole top ten at the Open de España - but then played just 14 in the next five seasons despite coming through the Qualifying School in 2014 and 2016. Claimed a first Challenge Tour victory in five years at the Sydbank Esbjerg Challenge this season and will now be hoping to have a real run at the European Tour after finishing 12th on the Road to Mallorca.
Hugo Leon
The man with one of the most colourful CVs in golf having played on the PGA Tour, the Web.com Tour, the PGA Tour Latinoamérica, the MacKenzie Tour, the China Tour and the Challenge Tour is back for another crack at the European Tour. The Chilean was a 34-year-old rookie when he came through the Qualifying School in 2018 and secured four top tens in his debut season only to agonisingly miss out on keeping his card by one place thanks to Steven Brown's victory at the Portugal Masters. After being unable to compete for 15 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he claimed victory at the British Challenge Presented by Modest! Golf Management and with the help of a second place in the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge, finished 14th in the Rankings.
Marcel Siem
Almost certainly the best known of the Challenge Tour class of 2021, the German makes his return to he European Tour after three seasons away. A four time winner who finished seventh in the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex in 2014, he has 470 appearances under his belt on the European Tour. He lost his card in 2018 but ended a seven year winless drought at the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge, earning himself a spot at The Open where he finished in a tie for 15th. The 41-year-old admitted he almost did not play at Royal St George's Golf and considered playing on the Challenge Tour that week instead in an attempt to consolidate his place on the Road to Mallorca but after finishing 15th, he has the best of both worlds.
Daan Huizing
Enjoyed a dream start to his professional career with two wins and four more top ten finishes in his rookie season on the Challenge Tour in 2013 to earn his first shot on European Tour. Has been an incredibly consistent performer on the Challenge Tour since 2015, finishing in the top 25 in the Rankings in five out of seven years. With the top 15 usually graduating, he has not been able to quite get over the line but his 20th place finish this season - with a victory at the Irish Challenge - gets him a second season on the European Tour.
Some other familiar names you will also see next year are Scots Ewen Ferguson and Craig Howie, South African Oliver Bekker and German Hurly Long. Each have already enjoyed longer spells competing in European Tour events through their Challenge Tour ranking, but next year will hold a European Tour card for the first time.
