The Road to Mallorca heads to Port Elizabeth this week for the NMB Championship as the South African Swing concludes. Here’s our three to watch…
Form horse: Victor Pastor
Victor Pastor has made an impressive start to the 2024 Road to Mallorca and currently sits in ninth position on the Rankings. The Spaniard finished in a tie for 18th at the Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open before a tie for third at last week’s Dimension Data Pro-Am, and he will tee it up at Humewood full of confidence. The 29-year-old finished 70th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings last season, which included a second place at the Duncan Taylor Black Bull Challenge in India, and he will be looking to put in those kind of performances on a more consistent basis in 2024 to maintain his position in the top 20.
Local boy: Lyle Rowe
Humewood Golf Club will present familiar surroundings for Lyle Rowe. The South African, who resides in Port Elizabeth, is attached to Humewood and will know the links layout better than anyone in the field. The 36-year-old finished in a tie for 20th at last season’s NMB Championship and he will be looking to utilise his course knowledge once again this year as he targets a maiden Challenge Tour victory in his hometown.
The outsider: Robin Williams
Robin Williams will be looking to build on his best Challenge Tour finish at last week’s Dimension Data Pro-Am where he finished in a tie for third after posting rounds of 70-68-71-69 and subsequently catapulted to 11th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings. The 22-year-old, whose middle name is ‘Tiger’ after the great Tiger Woods, played under the British flag as an amateur and was part of the 2018 European Junior Ryder Cup team who took on the United States at Golf Disneyland in Paris. Williams will be hoping for another strong performance this week to climb further up the Rankings.
