The Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A takes place this week, with 45 players battling it out to get into the top 20 on the Road to Mallorca Rankings and earn their place on the DP World Tour for 2023.
Those that do will be teeing it up alongside 13 of the graduates from 2021 who finished in the top 117 on the 2022 DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex and here, we take a look at those who will be playing a second consecutive season with full playing privileges.
Marcus Helligkilde
Last year, Helligkilde became the third Dane to win the Road to Mallorca Rankings after securing his third victory of the season at the 2021 Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A. While he made a relatively slow start to life on Tour after struggling with back and shoulder pain, two months away from the game to get healthy did him the world of good as he returned to seal top tens at the Barbasol Championship, ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics and Made in HimmerLand. Next year, a fully fit Helligkilde will be looking to impress on the DP World Tour.
Santiago Tarrio
A two-time Challenge Tour winner in 2021, the Spaniard topped the Road to Mallorca for much of the season before being leapfrogged by Helligkilde at the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final. He looked like he could be in a battle to keep his card in 2022 before he finished fourth at the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed and after that he racked up points in 11 of 15 events to comfortably remain on the DP World Tour.
Julien Brun
After finishing fourth behind Tarrio on the 2021 Road to Mallorca, Brun made an impressive start to his DP World Tour career, finishing in the top 25 in five of his first six starts, including in the Rolex Series at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. He may have only secured one top ten in 2022 but his remarkable consistency held him in good stead, with 20 cuts made from 27 and a second season on the top tier in the bag.
Oliver Bekker
Finished seventh on the Road to Mallorca in 2021 and quickly established himself as a top-ten machine on the DP World Tour. The South African was in the top ten in six of eight events from February into the start of May, including a second at the Catalunya Championship. A tie for fourth at the Soudal Open had him in the top ten on the Rankings and while he has not quite maintained that pace, he is comfortably into the field for both the Nedbank Golf Challenge and the DP World Tour Championship.
Ewen Ferguson
The Scot finished eighth on the Road to Mallorca in 2021 but is the highest-ranked of the graduates on the DP World Tour this season after a sensational campaign. Ferguson secured his maiden DP World Tour title at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and lifted another trophy later in the year at the ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics. He almost made it a hat-trick of wins as he finished second at the Made in HimmerLand three weeks later and is truly one of the breakout stars of 2022.
Yannik Paul
Yannik Paul became the second 2021 Challenge Tour graduate to win on the DP World Tour this year after he triumphed at the Mallorca Golf Open less than two weeks ago. He finished second at last year's Grand Final to catapult himself up to ninth on the Road to Mallorca and started his DP World Tour career with a top ten at the Joburg Open. Another four followed, including finishing second at the Soudal Open before his maiden victory and Paul must be considered a major contender for the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award.
Lukas Nemecz
A Qualifying School graduate in 2015, the Austrian is making the most of his second bite at the cherry after finishing tenth on the 2021 Road to Mallorca Rankings. A tie for third in just his third event of the season at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital went a long way to securing his card and he made the weekend 20 times in 27 starts. Finishes of ninth and 11th in two of his last three events could provide an excellent springboard for 2023.
Marcel Schneider
The 2017 Qualifying School graduate had the frustration of finishing second on the Road to Mallorca in 2020 when categories were frozen but shook that off to finish in the top 20 again in 2021. He did not register a point on the DP World Tour Rankings until May after missing his first six cuts of the season but sealed three consecutive top tens as May turned to June and has added another three to put himself on the cusp of heading to the season finale in Dubai.
Espen Kofstad
The Challenge Tour Number One in 2012 and a two-time Qualifying School graduate, Kofstad has been limited to just 101 career starts on the DP World Tour due to a succession of injuries. Now fully fit, a top ten at the Horizon Irish Open was his best result of the season and he held his nerve at the Portugal Masters to make the cut and earn a second consecutive DP World Tour season for the first time in his career.
Chase Hanna
The American may have made just nine cuts in 29 starts but when he gets to the weekend, he knows how to make it count. Opened the season with a 12th in South Africa and then missed six cuts in a row before finishing second in Qatar. Hanna then made two of his next nine weekends but both times was in the top ten and got as high as 24th in the Rankings in his rookie season.
Niklas Nørgaard Møller
The huge-hitting Dane was another DP World Tour debutant, and he left it late before securing himself a second season. Back-to-back top tens in the summer gave him a platform upon which to build but he was on the outside looking in before he finished in a tie for seventh at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. A top 20 at the following week's acciona Open de España presented by Madrid meant he could breathe easy going into the very final weeks of the season.
Hurly Long
One of three Germans to have kept their place on the DP World Tour and another set to make their way to the DP World Tour Championship. Like Schneider, he finished in the top ten on the Road to Mallorca in 2020 and followed it up with another good season to earn his graduation. Long finished third in Ras Al Khaimah and second in Kenya in just his third and fourth events of the season, adding a further six top tens including his last two starts as he eyes a big finish to the season.
Daan Huizing
A Challenge Tour graduate in 2013, the Dutchman finished 20th in the Rankings for the third time in five years to claim the last place available on the DP World Tour in 2021. He looked to be in a battle to stay there after a string of missed cuts early in the season but he finished third at the Cazoo Classic and eighth at Made in HimmerLand to get over the line in relative safety.
