Santiago Tarrio will arrive on home soil at this week’s Challenge de Cadiz in jubilant mood having catapulted up to fifth in the Road to Mallorca Rankings courtesy of his dramatic play-off victory at last week’s D+D REAL Czech Challenge.
The Spaniard overcame Norway’s Kristian Krogh Johannessen and Frenchman Julien Brun on the fourth extra hole at Golf & Spa Resort Kunětická Hora to move into the top five in the Road to Mallorca, up from 44th.
Johannessen moved into the top ten after his runner-up finish in Czech Republic, climbing to eight from 17th while Julien Brun moved to tenth spot from 18th.
Wilco Nienaber remains at the top of the Rankings, thanks primarily to the South African’s victory in the Dimension Data Pro-Am at Fancourt Golf Estate on home soil. The 21-year-old has a total of 57,303 points, 5,946 more points than Craig Howie who sits in second place.
Howie has played in six out of the seven events on the Challenge Tour this season, only missing the Irish Challenge at Portmarnock Links. The Scotsman claimed an impressive seven-stroke victory at the Range Servant Challenge by Hinton Golf, the first event of the Swedish Swing, ecoming the first European to win on the European Challenge Tour in 2021 and now has a total of 51,357 points in the Road to Mallorca Rankings.
Daan Huizing sits third on the Rankings with 46,490 points after winning the Irish Challenge at Portmarnock Links in a dramatic play-off against Spaniard Eduard Rousaud. Both players birdied the 18th to force the play-off in which the Dutchman came out on top to claim his third Challenge Tour title. Sweden’s Henric Sturehed sits in fourth place on 42,252 points due to a terrific second place finish in South Africa at the Dimension Data Pro-Am, where he finished 19 under par to force a play-off with Wilco Nienaber.
It is another South African, Oliver Bekker who sits in sixth place, while 26-year-old Felix Mory is currently seventh in the Rankings having secured a brilliant victory in a play-off against Björn Hellgren at the Dormy Open in Sweden.
