Finland plays host to the European Challenge Tour this week as the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge takes centre stage on the Road to Mallorca. Here are three players to keep an eye out for at Vierumäki Resort.
Form horse
Romain Wattel is currently on a charge on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, jumping 209 places to 41st position since the middle of July.
The Frenchman finished one shot behind last week’s winner Sam Bairstow to claim second place at the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by the R&A. It was his second top five in four events, adding it to his share of fifth at the Euram Bank Open.
With eight events to go until the top 45 players on the Rankings gain entry to the Challenge Tour Grand Final, Wattel is a firm contender for this week’s challenge in Finland.
Local favourite
Matias Honkala will be hoping to delight the home crowds in Finland when he tees it up at the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge. The Finn had a chance to seal his first Challenge Tour title earlier in the year at the Copenhagen Challenge presented by Ejner Hessel as he headed into the final round with the lead, ultimately finishing third in just his first start of the season on the circuit.
Since then, he has had a mixed bag of results, but four sub-70 rounds at the Euram Bank Open for a share of 11th will give him confidence, especially when he returns to the location of his first Challenge Tour appearance in 2017.
The outsider
Marc Hammer finished second at last year’s Vierumäki Finnish Challenge and will be aiming to go one better this time around. The German heads into the event with mixed fortunes from the season so far, with three top tens and ten missed cuts in 16 Challenge Tour starts.
His latest performance in Scotland last week will be encouraging, as his tied ninth finish brought an end to three missed cuts in-a-row.
If the 24-year-old can carry over that momentum into this week, expect him to be in contention at the end.
