With the richest stand alone tournament in its 18 year history, the first score of 59 recorded, and the emergence of one of the most exciting European golfing talents in many years, 2006 was a vintage year for the European Challenge Tour.
The €300,000 Kazakhstan Open at the Nurtau Golf Club, Almaty, Kazakhstan, was the event in question and, as a result of its €48,000 first prize, was always going to play a significant role in identifying the player of the year.
The fact that Mark Pilkington won, cements that observation. His victory in the third last event of the season moved him to second place on the Rankings and provided the impetus required to finish the year on a high in the Apulia San Domenico Grand Final at San Domenico Golf, Savalletri, Italy. There he tied for second place behind Englishman James Hepworth, to finish Number One in the Rankings with season’s earnings of €119,151.
While Hepworth finished fifth on the Rankings, Pilkington became the first Welshman to finish top of the Challenge Tour Rankings and, in a year where Ian Woosnam led Europe to a record third consecutive Ryder Cup victory, further enhanced a marvellous season for the Principality.
The man he pushed into second place was Sweden’s Johan Axgren, who had led the way for the bulk of the season but who fell just short, by €13,453, at the denouement. Axgren won twice in the space of four weeks at the beginning the year – at the Kai Fieberg Costa Rica Open 2006 at the Cariari Country Club, San Jose, Costa Rica, and the Tusker Kenya Open at the Karen Golf Club, Nairobi, Kenya – to soar to the top, a position he held until Pilkington leapfrogged him.
While Axgren and Pilkington were leading from the front, the next generation of European golfing talent was emerging from behind as the Challenge Tour players exhibited their skills in 31 tournaments across 22 countries spread throughout Africa, Asia, Central and South America and, of course, Europe,
The single most outstanding performance of the year came during the second round of the Tikida Hotels Agadir Moroccan Classic at Golf du Soleil in Agadir, Morocco, as Frenchman Adrien Mörk recorded the first 59 in the history of The European, Challenge and Seniors Tours. Given his scorecard contained a double bogey at the second, Mörk produced a miraculous performance for 17 holes, putting together an eagle, 13 birdies and just three pars to rewrite the history books.
Having opened the tournament with an eight under par 63, Mörk’s 36 hole total of 20 under par 122 saw him enter the Tour’s record books as the holder of lowest opening 36 hole score on any of the three Tours. The Frenchman went on to win a second Challenge Tour title at the OKI Mahou Challenge de España at the Centro Nacional de Golf, Madrid, Spain, and he finished the season in 20th place on the Rankings to take the last available European Tour card.
In total, the 2006 Challenge Tour crowned 28 champions but, such is the high standard required to succeed nowadays, 13 of those tournament winners came tantalisingly close to finishing within the top 20 and securing a card, but were left ultimately disappointed.
In fact Antonio Maldonado of Mexico claimed the first event of the 2006 season, the 48th Abierto Mexicano Corona at Club de Golf de Hacienda, Mexico City, Mexico. He was followed onto the winners’ rostrum a week later by Kevin Stadler after the American’s excellent win in the Abierto Visa de la Republica, presented by Bridgestone, at the Jockey Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Stadler, of course, had no concerns in terms of a card for, two months later, he won the Johnnie Walker Classic on The European Tour itself, to guarantee his playing privileges until the end of 2008.
Following Stadler’s win in Argentina, the following week, the South American country’s own Miguel Carballo won the Abierto Movistar Guatemala Open 2006 at the Hacienda Neuva Country Club, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
In Europe, Scotland’s David Drysdale took the Peugeot Challenge R.C.G. El Prat at the Real Club de Golf El Prat, Barcelona, Spain; the French duo of Julien Foret and Anthony Snobeck won the Golf Open International de Toulouse at Golf de Toulouse-Seilh, Seilh, France and the Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata at Riva dei Tessali and Metaponto Golf Club in southern Italy respectively; Sweden’s Kalle Brink secured the Lexus Open at the Larvik Golf Club, Larvik, Norway, Toni Karjalainen of Finland took the Telenet Trophy at Limburg Golf and Country Club, Houthalen, Belgium; England’s Sam Walker won the Scottish Challenge at Murcar Links Golf Club, Aberdeen, Scotland; Welshman Sion Bebb triumphed at home in the Ryder Cup Wales Challenge at Nefyn Golf Club, Wales; while the following week Australian John Wade won the Ireland Ryder Cup Challenge at Mahony’s Point, Killarney Golf and Fishing Club, Ireland. Finally, the Spanish trio of Francisco Cea, Carlos Del Moral and Alvaro Salto had respective victories at the Credit Suisse Challenge at Wylihof Golf, Luterbach, Switzerland; the Texbond Open over Gardagolf, Brescia, Italy, and the Parco di Monza Challenge at the Golf Club Milano in Monza, Italy.
The Challenge Tour has often seen the first glimpse of many of The European Tour’s biggest stars. Included in that number is Thomas Björn, who has financially supported his own Challenge Tour event for the past two seasons – the Thomas Björn Open – won in 2006 by Marcus Higley at the Horsens Golf Club in Denmark, the Englishman going on to finish tenth on the Rankings.
Of the 20 men who graduated from the 2006 Challenge Tour, Martin Kaymer stood out for many as a player to watch after a truly astonishing run of results in the second half of the season.
The German, who carded a 59 on the Satellite EPD Tour before joining the Challenge Tour in August, played only eight events on the 2006 Schedule but made a stunning impact, winning twice – on his Challenge Tour debut in the Vodafone Challenge at Golf Club Elfrather Mühle, Dusseldorf, Germany, and then in the Open des Volcans - Challenge de France at Golf des Volcans, Clermont Ferrand, France – and registering a further four top five finishes en route to taking fourth place on the final Rankings.
It was not just Kaymer’s results that were impressive. His golf swing, attitude and level of performance over the closing stages of the Challenge Tour season were awesome, and it will be no surprise to anyone who came across the hugely impressive 22 year old if he follows 2005 Challenge Tour Number One Marc Warren as The Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year on The 2007 European Tour.
Of the 20 Challenge Tour graduates, Kaymer and Mörk will be two of 13 Rookies on The 2007 European Tour. The other 11 players who will play a full European Tour season for the first time in their careers all have the ability to establish themselves at the top level for years to come if they can continue to progress and improve.
Sweden’s Alexander Noren finished one place ahead of Kaymer on the Rankings after winning the Rolex Trophy at the Golf Club de Genève, Genèva, Switzerland, and looks capable of going all the way on The European Tour. Likewise, Kyron Sullivan of Wales, who took the sixth card assisted by his win in the Estoril Challenge at Penha Longa, Estoril, Portugal, and Argentina’s Rafael Echenique, winner of the Telia Challenge Waxholm at the Waxholm Golf Club, Stockholm, Sweden, on his way to seventh place.
In Rafael Cabrera Bello, Alvaro Quiros and Juan Parron, the Challenge Tour also produced a trio of Spanish graduates who have the pedigree to add to the 22 Spanish players who have tasted success on The European Tour International Schedule since 1972.
Cabrera Bello, who took 13th place, won the MAN NÖ Open at Golfclub Adamstal, Ramsau, Austria; Quiros triumphed in the Morson International Pro-Am Challenge at Marriott Worsley Park Hotel and Country Club, Manchester, England, en route to finishing the year in 18th place, while Parron took first place in the Open Mahou de Madrid at Club de Golf La Herreria, Spain, as well as a notable share of fourth place in the dual ranking Aa St Omer Open at the Aa Saint Omer Golf Club in Lumbres, France - won by Argentina’s Cesar Monasterio - on his way to eighth place on the Rankings.
Of the eight Englishmen to win a place among the top 20, Gareth Davies, James Heath, Marcus Higley and Gary Lockerbie will be Rookies on The 2007 European Tour.
Heath realised the potential he had shown throughout a victory-laden amateur career with his maiden professional success in the ECCO Tour Championship at Odense Golf Club, Denmark.
Davies and Lockerbie may not have won in 2006, but their level of consistency was remarkable, Davies returning nine top 25 finishes from his 24 starts while Lockerbie missed just five cuts from his 23 events. Such consistency can also bring lucrative rewards on The European Tour.
Jean-Baptiste Gonnet of France was another player who did not win an event in 2006 but can look back on his season with tremendous satisfaction as he took 17th place on the Rankings on the back of six top ten finishes to secure his place on The European Tour for the first time in his career.
For the 13 rookies a voyage of self discovery lies ahead and for those setting sail again on The European Tour another exciting opportunity exists to grasp all that can be seen on the horizon.
Michael Gibbons
Reproduced by kind permission of The European Tour Yearbook which can be purchased through europeantourshop.net
