Road to Mallorca number one MJ Daffue is back in HotelPlanner Tour action this week as he hunts for his third win of the season.
The South African claimed his first win on home soil at the NTT DATA Pro-Am brought to you by Standard Bank and followed that up with a second win at the DP World PGTI Open, putting himself as front runner at the top of the Road to Mallorca Rankings.
After his win in India, Daffue had the chance to tee it up on the DP World Tour at the Hero Indian Open, and he showed his class at the step up by finishing in a tie for third.
The 37-year-old has mixed his season across both the HotelPlanner Tour and Golf’s Global Tour, with this week marking his eighth start of the season on the Road to Mallorca, his last one coming when he missed the cut at Blot Play9 in June.
Daffue qualified for the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale and made the weekend with rounds of 67 and 72 but a seven over par weekend saw him finish 71st in Southport.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I love Scotland. I wasn’t too sure what I was expecting but this place is great. It’s a proper golf course and it’s nice to get going.
“It feels good to get back out here a little bit refreshed.
“I took some weeks off before and after The Open. That was my 20th tournament of the year. It’s been busy, but it’s obviously been very good.”
Daffue would earn instant promotion to the DP World Tour with a win this week, but the South African is more focused on his game in Scotland.
“Winning is not easy,” he added. “Obviously it would mean a lot as it would change a few things for me.
“You never show up trying to win, you show up trying to be on top of your best game. It would be great but I’m not focusing on that at all.
“I worked on a few bits during my time off. My driver has not been as good as it’s usually been and I’m constantly working on my putter, and I’ve finally got that dialled in.
“Taking time off changes your perspective and refreshes your mind. I played a lot of golf; I played some nice courses in England. Obviously, there’s a fine balance as you don’t want to go into a tournament over prepared with too many expectations.
“Everything is feeling very good with my game at the minute. It’s probably the most in control I’ve ever been. I know exactly where each aspect of my game is at and I have a clear understanding of what needs to be improved.
“I do feel like I’m good enough to win on the DP World Tour or the PGA Tour with the way I’m playing right now. I was right there at The Open, and my last 20 holes were not good enough, maybe I pushed too much.
“Those are the lessons you learn.”
Daffue is joined by a star-studded line-up in Scotland, including 14 of the 15 other winners on the 2026 Road to Mallorca, as well as two-time DP World Tour winner Eddie Pepperell.
The opening round of the Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A gets under way at 7:45am on Thursday morning, with Daffue and Pepperell teeing up alongside Scotland’s Callum Fyfe at 8:15am.
