After a six-week hiatus, the HotelPlanner Tour arrives in Europe for the first time this season for the Italian Challenge Open, hosted at Golf Nazionale in Viterbo. It is the start of a ten-week run of events across the continent, as players jostle for position in the 2026 Road to Mallorca rankings. Here are three to look out for this week.
Form Horse: David Horsey
It’s difficult to predict who will hit the ground running heading into Italy following the extended break after March’s co-sanctioned DP World PGTI Open in India, but David Horsey appears to be a man in form. The Englishman has registered two top tens in his four starts on the HotelPlanner Tour this season and is yet to finish outside the top 40. Coupling that with a top ten at this event last year, finishing in a tie for eighth at 15 under after a final round 65, means the 2008 Rankings winner could contend for a fourth HotelPlanner Tour title this week.
Local Boy: Lorenzo Scalise
Lorenzo Scalise looks the most likely Italian to be in the mix come Sunday in Viterbo. Scalise finished 11th in the Italian Challenge Open last year at 14 under, and has yet to finish outside the top 30 this season, in a tie for sixth in India last time out. The 30-year-old leads the Italian charge on the Road to Mallorca this year, sitting currently in 21st on the season-long Rankings. Scalise also has a good track record in his home country, winning the 2017 Italian Amateur Championship and finishing low-amateur in the Italian Open of the same year, so he stands every chance of contending this week.
Outsider: Chris Wood
It is impossible to look past the returning Chris Wood for this week’s outsider. The Englishman earned his spot on the HotelPlanner Tour by winning the order of merit on the MENA Tour (Middle East and North Africa), with three victories across the winter in Portugal, Egypt and Morocco. The wins followed Wood, who represented Europe at the 2016 Ryder Cup, going wire to wire at MENA Tour Q-School. He is a three-time DP World Tour winner, including the 2016 BMW PGA Championship, and that winning feeling will give him confidence in Italy.
