The 2026 Road to Mallorca gets back under way in less than two weeks, with the Italian Challenge Open at Golf Nazionale marking the first of 19 European events in a 20-week stretch.
HotelPlanner Tour expert, Kit Alexander, who has been part of the commentary team for the Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A for the last four years live on Sky Sports, is back to reflect on the opening five events on the 2026 Road to Mallorca, and also look ahead to the European stretch of the season.
You can follow Kit on social media: @KitOnTheCourse (X), @kitonthecourse (Instagram)
South African success
“The first five events of 29 are done, so we're only 17% of the way for the more mathematically keen. So early stages, as kind of expected with four of those events being in South Africa, South Africans are dominating the top of the leaderboard, with four of the first five wins coming from the Rainbow nation.
“Since the HotelPlanner Tour has had those events starting in South Africa, there's tended to be two or three names that have come good and won early in the season before getting promoted. A good start is a massive boost to anyone, so the South Africans doing their thing is a big takeaway from the events in South Africa.
“I don't want to labour the point of South Africans doing well in South Africa and then finding it difficult elsewhere, because we know that's not quite true but certainly being on your home turf in environments and courses you're familiar with helps.”
MJ Daffue
“MJ Daffue is one of those who has capitalised by already having a couple of wins. Obviously, there are only 15 cards available at the end of this season, so you certainly can't say he's guaranteed promotion off the back of that, but he's a very long way towards it. That's a very big start; we saw it with Daniel Van Tonder last year. If you can get two wins in early, it allows you to approach the rest of the year with a bit of freedom.
“Golf is about timing if you have the right run of results or the right bit of form at the right time, that's what can take you to the next level. He's obviously made a great start. I think if he gets the three wins and gets promoted, the earlier the better, because it gets you on to the next level.
“Winning isn't easy and he's shown that he can. The one thing I would say might prevent him from doing so is he might end up playing a fair bit of golf on the DP World Tour or maybe even going back to America to play a bit. So it might be that he snowballs and just has a good run on the DP World Tour and does well on the Race to Dubai because he's certainly shown over the start of this year that he's got the game to compete on the DP World Tour."
Experienced players
“The temptation is always to look for the next big thing and the new name, and there are plenty of them who will emerge through the season, but often experience plays a key part as well, and we're seeing a few more experienced players at the top of the Rankings.
“Guys in their 30s, even someone like Deon Germishuys, who's started the season well, who has had experience of playing on the DP World Tour. Someone like Santiago Tarrio knows what it takes to get promoted. Bryce Easton's been there, Lukas Nemecz, Tapio Pulkkanen, Lorenzo Scalise, all guys that have had decent starts to the year. The guys that have been up to the DP World Tour, know what it takes to get promoted, know what it is like to play at that higher level.”
Patience
“I think patience is something too. You go into the start of the season and you've got the dual rank, dual-sanctioned events and some of the guys with the lower status aren't going to get many opportunities or aren't even going to feel like their season has really started in earnest until next month when we get back to Europe.
“I think it's very easy to overreact and have recency bias to what happens in the first few weeks of the season. I think the takeaway would be that actually if you look down the Road to Mallorca, aside from the winners, even if you've had what you would consider as a sort of bang average start to the year or even quite a poor one, look at the points that the people in sort of 15th, 20th, 25th or 45th if you look into that number to get in the Rolex Grand Final. You're one good result away from that at this stage, so patience, don't panic, don't start chasing. "
Standard of play
“Another key takeaway has been the standard of the play and good scoring. All the winners have been between 14 and 21 under par. There was a three-round event won at 16 under too, so that would probably have gone even lower. You’ve got to make birdies and eagles to win, it's the way the modern game is going.
“You need to go low and attack at every opportunity. Aggression is rewarded and the value of getting a win or finishing second or third is more rewarding than if you win and then miss five cuts. People are going out there being aggressive and if it comes off, you're being rewarded."
Slow starters
“A big surprise for me have been the slow starts to the season from some of my picks, from the original ‘Expert Picks’. I had faith in them to do well. I put them out there. So obviously I was expecting them to do well, and I would have expected them to have fast starts. You look at someone like Yannik Paul, who I predicted for Road to Mallorca number one, not quite got it going. And especially Jovan Rebula and Christiaan Burke, who I kind of put forward knowing they were South African, knowing they had those four events in South Africa and that could really prove to be a catalyst for a big year as it looks like it's going to be for someone like MJ Daffue. And it hasn't quite worked out for them. So that would be my surprise. I thought they'd do well and they haven't. I still believe all those players will still have something to say this season and will be there or thereabouts. There's a long way to go, so I'm surprised some of those guys haven't started better, but it by no means changes my opinion or belief in them."
Most impressive performance
“I alluded to it, I think the MJ Daffue’s win in India. It’s easy to take your foot off the gas a little bit and think ‘I've got off to a hot start’, but he didn't, he doubled down when he was playing well. The nature of a 61 in the second round - 11 under par - and then going out in the final round, bogey-free, making the eagle on the back nine as well at 14 to sort of just get himself over the line there. Anytime you shoot 61 in a tournament and have a bogey-free final round to win, that's hugely impressive. When it's your second win in the first five events of the season it stacks you up for a really good year ahead.
“Pablo Ereno is the other player that's really impressed me so far. Third and the fourth place arguably should have been even better. He's been hugely impressive. The shots I've seen him hit. I like the aggression he plays with. He doesn't look like he's scared. I think that stands him in good stead. "
Rookies
“There's always a name or two that you didn't know at the start of the year. There will always be someone like that or someone that wasn't even on anyone's radar in a rookie season that just comes through and no doubt that will happen again, and it will be someone we haven't even thought about or spoken about even at this stage, five tournaments into the season.
“Obviously, Adam Wallin, three starts and one missed cut, but the tied sixth in India was big and shows what he can do. Chris Wood is obviously an interesting name who's popped onto that category as well, having come through the Mena Tour. Former Ryder Cup player, BMW PGA Championship winner, multiple DP World Tour winner. We all know the class of the guy. He's battled his demons on and off the golf course and he's struggled with driver big time. But HotelPlanner Tour layouts probably give you a little bit more margin for error than a DP World Tour or a PGA Tour layout. He's playing well again. The confidence is starting to come back from his wins on the Mena Tour and getting promoted. He is a fascinating player to keep an eye on, I think there'll be a few weeks a year where it clicks for him and with the class he has, there's every chance he can win those weeks, certainly at this level. “
