The fight for a spot in the top 20 on the Road to Mallorca Rankings is heating up with Marcus Helligkilde climbing four positions into third place following his victory at the Swiss Challenge, the second European Challenge Tour title of his career.
The Dane sits on 121,228 points and claimed his second Challenge Tour victory in the space of seven weeks as he triumphed at the Swiss Challenge at Golf Saint Apollinaire. He is now one victory away from automatic promotion to the European Tour, with three tournaments left on the 2021 Road to Mallorca.
The smile of a winner 😁#SwissChallenge pic.twitter.com/yucQx2asjg
— Challenge Tour (@Challenge_Tour) October 3, 2021
Still sitting in pole position on the Road to Mallorca Rankings is Spaniard Santiago Tarrio with 163,938 points, following victories at the D+D REAL Czech Challenge and the Challenge de España. The 30-year-old has recently competed on the European Tour, highlighting his quality with a third-place finish at the Hero Open and a tied 15th position at the ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by Modest! Golf Management.
Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia remains in second spot on 142,766 with victories coming at the Italian Challenge and the Made in Esbjerg Challenge – Presented by FREJA & TotalEnergies, adding to his previous three Challenge Tour titles coming in 2014 and 2015. He is still targeting an elusive third win of the year and also stands a chance of becoming the first man to top the Challenge Tour Rankings twice, after being crowned Number One in 2015.
Frenchman Julien Brun moved into the top five of the Rankings following a seventh-place finish at the Hopps Open de Provence, a joint tenth finish at the Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos and a tied fifth place at the Swiss Challenge, moving one spot clear of Scotsman Ewen Ferguson who last week finished an impressive joint 17th place on the European Tour at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
In form Frederic Lacroix, of France, moved up three positions into 14th on the Rankings after his runner-up finish in Portugal and fourth place finish at the Swiss Challenge.
Denmark’s Nicolai Kristensen climbed 28 places into 27th on the Rankings after his joint runner-up finish with England’s Jonathan Thomson at the Swiss Challenge, who himself moved up 46 places into 52nd place and within touching distance of a spot in the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A.
Dane Niklas Nørgaard Møller moved into the top 20 following back-to-back top ten finishes at the Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos and the Swiss Challenge and is still in search of his maiden Challenge Tour title, however stands a chance of earning a European Tour card with three events remaining.
