Like The 2006 European Tour, the 2006 Challenge Tour season gets underway before the turn of the year, beginning this week with the 48 Abierto Mexicano Corona tournament. And, just as the European Tour players have done, the Challenge Tour players have been urged to prepare with precision and diligence and to give it 100 per cent on every single shot in every single event. The pertinent advice comes from a man who knows precisely what he is speaking about, namely Scotland’s Marc Warren, who finished the 2005 season in exactly the position every one of the competitors at the Club de Golf de la Hacienda in Mexico City will want to be come October 2006, Number One on the Challenge Tour Rankings.
Warren began his 2005 season in the same Mexican event and, although his finish of tied 67th was actually his worst of the year in terms of tournaments in which he made the cut, he admitted he was trying on every single shot and revealed the crucial importance of doing just that.
“Although everyone points to my wins in Ireland and Switzerland as important in me winning the Rankings, what the guys have to remember is that it is the money you pick up in events even when you are not doing so well that counts just as much,” he said.
“I might not have played great in Mexico last year but I won €620. And while that doesn’t sound that impressive on its own, when you realise I won the Rankings by €448, then you can see how important it actually was.
“I would say to the guys going to Mexico this week and playing this season on the Challenge Tour to prepare as well as you possibly can, try as hard as you can, and always look up to The European Tour for inspiration because that is where we all want to be.
“The Challenge Tour is fantastic and can give you a massive amount of experience if you do get the chance to move up. Obviously I didn’t get off to the best start last year but you have to keep plugging away. Of course, if you can get off to a good start it gives you something to build on for the rest of the year because the money is big for the Challenge Tour boys over in South America.
“Guys like David Higgins who finished third and Rafael Gomez who ended up winning in Mexico last year both used the money there as a catalyst to move forward and it was no surprise to see both of them finish in the top 15 at the end of the year.
“The course in Mexico is great and it will be a good test for the boys and I am sure they will enjoy the experience. I know how they will be feeling. It will be a mixture of nervousness and excitement, but they have to go out there and do their very best.”
The 48 Abierto Mexicano Corona sees the Challenge Tour, as it has done for the past three years, kick off the season in Central America, not only continuing the burgeoning partnership with the Tour de Las Americas, but also offering the new generation of European Tour hopefuls the chance to make a significant start to the season with the prize fund on offer of US$305,000.
Last year, Englishman James Heath finished one shot behind Higgins – a remarkable performance considering it was his first professional event. Heath will be back this week, looking to improve upon last year’s finish and indeed, last season’s overall placing as he missed out on securing his European Tour card by just two agonising places after finishing his rookie year in 22nd spot on the Rankings.
There was only one man who could claim to be more aggrieved than Heath at the end of the 2005 season. American Brad Sutterfield could be forgiven for thinking ‘what else do I have to do?’ after winning twice on the 2005 Challenge Tour yet finishing the season in arguably the worst position of all – 21st on the Rankings and one place away from an automatic spot on The European Tour.
Sutterfield will tee up in Mexico too, alongside other 2005 tournament winners Olivier David of France, England’s Gareth Davies, the American pair of Kyle Dobbs and Kevin Haefner, Scotsman David Patrick, as well as Gomez and his compatriot Andres Romero.
