The Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A will see the leading 45 players on the Road to Mallorca Rankings tee it up, as they look to secure one of the 20 life-changing DP World Tour cards on offer.
Taking place from October 30-November 2 at Club de Golf Alcanada, promotion is all-but secure for some and hanging in the balance for several others. Across four nail-biting rounds, here are the permutations for the week ahead…
Race to Number One
JC Ritchie is the man to catch in Mallorca having amassed 1,546 points so far this term to sit top of the current Rankings. The South African has a healthy 101-point lead heading into the final event after registering three wins and four other top tens this term. Ritchie’s closest challenger is Austrian Maximilian Steinlechner who closed the gap to the top with back-to-back tied second finishes in China earlier this month.
If Steinlechner, Scotland’s David Law or Italian Renato Paratore win the Rolex Grand Final, they will also scoop the Rankings crown, regardless of where Ritchie finishes. Steinlechner could finish as low as solo seventh in Mallorca and still win the Rankings, but he would be reliant on Ritchie finishing no higher than 38th.
Frenchman Oihan Guillamoundeguy can win the Rankings if he wins in Mallorca and Ritchie finishes no higher than third. The lowest Guillamoundeguy can finish and still win the Rankings is second, but he would be reliant on the results of those currently above him.
Italian Filippo Celli, Spaniard Sebastian Garcia and Scotland’s Daniel Young are the only other players that could mathematically win the Rankings should they win in Mallorca and other player results go their way.
Every player has a chance
Every single person in the 45-man field can earn promotion. Spaniard Victor Pastor, who is the last man in the field, and Englishman Jamie Rutherford, who currently occupies 20th in the Rankings and the final promotion place, are only separated by 161 points. Rutherford has 592 points, while Pastor has 431.
Just 12 months ago, the player in the final promotion place and the last player in the field arrived in Mallorca separated by 229 points, meaning that this year, the race for promotion is much tighter.
The winner at Alcanada will be awarded 640 points, second place 440 points, third 280, fourth 240 and fifth 200, all the way down to 45th place who will earn 20.80 points. No-one is out of the running to earn a life-changing card on Golf’s Global Tour.
