Tomorrow heralds the start of the 2021 Road to Mallorca with the Limpopo Championship at Euphoria Golf Club in South Africa. . As the first event of the Challenge Tour season is upon us, here are three players to watch who could get their 2021 season off to the perfect start.
JC Ritchie
One man has won both editions of the Limpopo Championship, and that man is home favourite JC Ritchie. A winner in 2019 on the Sunshine Tour, the South African posted rounds of 66-69-67-67 at the beginning of 2020 to successfully defend his title and he followed that victory by finishing in a tie for 19th place at the RAM Cape Town Open and fifth at the Dimension Data Pro-Am, to take an early lead on the Road to Mallorca Rankings. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ritchie was unable to play a full season on the Challenge Tour. This year presents him with a new opportunity to compete in Europe and victory this week – which would complete a hat-trick of Limpopo wins – could set him immediately on the path to success.
Santiago Tarrio
Spain’s Santiago Tarrio has shown much promise over the last two years and, with experience under his belt, is one to watch in 2021. The 30-year-old finished 63rd on the Road to Mallorca Rankings in 2018 but showed prowess last year to exponentially improve on that in finishing seventh after the Challenge Tour Grand Final. In 2020, Tarrio made the cut in all 11 starts and secured four top ten finishes, including a tie for second at the Challenge Tour Grand Final. Although he finished tied 56th at the 2020 Limpopo Championship, Tarrio came fourth at the Dimension Data Pro-Am two weeks later, showing he has the game to compete in South African conditions. One to keep an eye on.
Julien Brun
Frenchman Julien Brun is back on the Challenge Tour after earning his playing privileges through the Pro Golf Tour last year and will be ready to show what he can do. The 27-year-old won on his Challenge Tour debut as an amateur at the 2012 ALLIANZ Golf Open Toulouse Metropole before returning to Challenge Tour action in 2017 after four years at college in the United States. He was unable to reach the heights of his amateur glory upon his return and, in 2020, split his time between the Challenge Tour and the Pro Golf Tour to good effect. Brun picked up his first two Pro Golf Tour wins en route to finishing second on the Order of Merit in 2020 and will be one of the Satellite Stars to watch in 2021.
