We are already well into The European Tour International Schedule for 2007, with some outstanding tournaments in China, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa prior to our Members earning a well deserved Christmas break. Though the new season is still in its infancy, there is an unmistakable sense of anticipation and optimism among both players and our Staff here at Wentworth Club.
Autumn provides The European Tour, the Seniors Tour and the Challenge Tour with the climaxes to their respective seasons, but more than that it reveals the newest crop of golfers who are ambitious for success on those three Tours in the future. In that respect, the 2006 season and the early weeks of the 2007 campaign have further underlined that the well of talent is deeper than ever.
Alvaro Quiros of Spain is a perfect example. Here is a young man who gained the 18th card out of 20 on the Challenge Tour Rankings, then chose to visit the Qualifying School Final Stage in search of an improved ranking. He managed to collect the 34th card out of the 35 players who secured their cards for 2007.
One month later, on his first start in possession of full playing rights on the Tour, Alvaro claimed the Alfred Dunhill Championship from a world class field including Ernie Els and Lee Westwood. His achievement provides every young golfer setting out on his career with the belief that anything is possible at any time on The European Tour.
It is worth noting that two former graduates of the Qualifying School, Johan Edfors of Sweden (also a former Challenge Tour Number One) and India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, accumulated five titles between them in the 2006 season including two massive titles in The Barclays Scottish Open and the Volvo Masters.
We congratulate Carlos Rodiles of Spain and Brazil’s Alexandre Rocha, who led the 35 qualifiers at San Roque Club after an extremely taxing week on the Costa del Sol. A special mention, too, to Oliver Fisher, who became the youngest card holder of the 35 at the tender age of 18.The sky is the limit for those players embarking on the Tour for the first time and those regaining their playing privileges.
This also applies to the golfers who filled the top 20 spots on the Challenge Tour Rankings, headed by Mark Pilkington of Wales. The race to become Number One went to the final day of the season with Mark just getting the better of Johan Axgren of Sweden. We applaud all those who fought so hard for so many months to finish in the top 20.
Once again, incentive is not hard to find. This time last year we extended our congratulations to Marc Warren of Scotland for winning the Rankings. Twelve months later, Marc is the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year, having won the EnterCard Scandinavian Masters. More recently he and Colin Montgomerie only lost out in a play-off for the WGC-Barbados World Cup, underscoring the importance of the Challenge Tour in the development of young talent.
On the Seniors Tour, David Merriman of Australia and Spain’s Emilio Rodriguez shared top billing in the Qualifying School in Portugal, with the former gaining the Number One card after a play-off. A total of 17 players earned full and conditional cards for 2007 and we wish them all well in the months ahead.
From our Wentworth headquarters, a hearty thank you to all our sponsors and promoters, whose commitment and enthusiasm are key components in the future success of The European Tour, Seniors Tour and Challenge Tour.
George O’Grady
Chief Executive
The European Tour
