The 2022 Road to Mallorca will consist of 31 tournaments staged across three continents in 18 different countries, with the season beginning in South Africa with the Dimension Data Pro-Am from February 10-13, the first of seven co-sanctioned events with the Sunshine Tour.
We spoke to Kit Alexander, Sky Sports commentator and journalist, to get his expertise and thoughts on the season ahead.
Alexander has been involved with the European Challenge Tour for several years and presented the coverage at the 2020 Challenge Tour Grand Final in Mallorca, as well as commentating on last year’s spectacle.
“I was amazed with the Challenge Tour schedule given everything going on in the world and the impact that has financially,” he said. “Giving the players that many opportunities is magnificent and serves as a brilliant feeder to the DP World Tour.
“The Challenge Tour is a developmental Tour and the closer the experience you can give these players to what they will get at the very top level the better. The number of countries the Tour will visit, the variety of courses and conditions, in addition to the experiences the players get on the Challenge Tour, prepares them brilliantly for the step up.”
The Challenge Tour was created in 1987 and it has enabled the next generation of golfing superstars to find their feet. Many players have progressed through the Challenge Tour and gone on to become Major Champions, including Brooks Koepka, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer and Louis Oosthuizen. There have also been several Ryder Cup stars who started on the Challenge Tour, such as Thomas Bjørn, Ian Poulter, Tommy Fleetwood and recent Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship winner Thomas Pieters.
Alexander believes the Challenge Tour has played a pivotal role in producing this plethora of golfing talent and as the standard on the Challenge Tour improves year upon year, the top level of golf will continue to reap the rewards.
“I think the quality right the way through golf is improving every year,” said Alexander. “There are more players with the quality to play on the DP World Tour than there are places available for them. It’s vital to the quality of golf that the pathway stays open and if anything increases rather than reduces. You need youngsters coming through and older guys given the chance to rejuvenate their careers if they do drop down. There is so much golfing talent and it’s important that there are places like the Challenge Tour for them to compete.”
Alexander presents, interviews and conducts on-course commentary for the PGA EuroPro Tour and he gave us an insight of what we can expect from some of the 2021 graduates who will make the step up to the Challenge Tour this year.
Jamie Rutherford won the EuroPro Tour’s Order of Merit in 2021 and will return to the Challenge Tour in 2022. The Englishman played on the DP World Tour in 2017 after progressing through all three stages of the European Tour group’s Qualifying School in 2016, however he fractured his spine during a car accident at the start of that year and he was unable to retain his status for the 2018 season. The Englishman went on to lose his playing rights on the Challenge Tour in 2019 but has now earned another chance on the Road to Mallorca in 2022.
“Rutherford won the Order of Merit and had brilliant consistency throughout the year,” said Alexander. “He had a season on the DP World Tour in 2017 but was in a car crash the year before and never really got the chance to perform at his best. The consistency he showed in 2021 really impressed me.”
Rutherford will be joined on the Challenge Tour in 2022 by fellow EuroPro Tour graduates and countrymen Mitch Waite, John Parry and Dan Brown, in addition to Scotland’s Calum Fyfe.
“Mitch Waite, who on his day is incredible, had five events in a row where he played in the final group on the final day,” Alexander added. “He had two wins, a second and two thirds from those five events, so when he gets hot, he is very hot.
“John Parry, who has won on the DP World Tour and Challenge Tour before, has been away from the top end of golf for a while but has fought his way back.”
Parry, who won the 2010 Vivendi Cup on the DP World Tour, will be looking to delve into his wealth of knowledge next season and Alexander believes experience is key to success on the Challenge Tour due to the relentless nature of the schedule.
“I think experience is vital,” he said. “When you look at feeder Tours, the temptation is to always look at the next big thing. There is no substitute for experience because it means players do not need to adapt to the nature of the Tour, whereas young guys coming through, it will be those who adapt quickest who will be most successful.
“If you look at the guys that got promoted from the Challenge Tour last year, the majority of players were in their late 20s or early 30s, it wasn’t full of young kids. Experience is key and often you see someone with more experience demonstrating greater consistency over the course of the season, even if they have less talent.
“Scheduling plays an important factor in such a long season because you can’t play in every event. The temptation is always to play every week, especially as you get towards the latter stages of the season where players are looking to maintain their card for next season by finishing inside the top 70, looking to break into the top 45 and make the Grand Final or chasing a place in the top 20 to earn DP World Tour cards.
“Players need to pick and choose the right moments to take their breaks and understand their body, mind, and form. There’s no point running on half a tank for the second half of the season because the margins are so fine, you have to be sharp enough.”
Kit's picks
You can follow Kit on social media here: @KitOnTheCourse (Twitter), @KitOnTheCourse (Instagram)
Road to Mallorca Number One: Richard Mansell
“I’m choosing Richard Mansell because I believe he has everything it takes to win,” he said. “He’s confident and struts around the golf course but at the same time he is self-aware enough to know where he needs to improve and apply himself in certain areas.
“He was promoted from the EuroPro Tour in 2019, finished inside the top five on the Challenge Tour in that shortened 2020 season and performed solidly on the DP World Tour last year despite not retaining his card. He made 11 of 16 cuts and played in the final group at the Canary Islands Championship where Garrick Higgo performed superbly to win it.
“I think if Richard comes back and plays a full season on the Challenge Tour, which I believe he will do, I can see him getting off to a good start, really riding that momentum and flying up the Rankings.”
The dark horse: Ryan Lumsden
“Ryan is a Scottish lad who was very good in College as a youngster for North Western,” said Alexander. “He qualified for the U.S. Open as an amateur when he was over there and turned pro at the end of 2019. He has been playing on the Alps Tour for the last couple of years and that’s how he earnt his Challenge Tour card.
“He won a couple of times last year on the Alps Tour and when he is good, he is very good. He lacks some consistency and normally finishes inside the top ten or misses the cut. I think moving forwards, consistency throughout the season will be important if he is to get himself towards the top of the Rankings but he certainly has the talent to do it.”
The promising one: Angel Hidalgo
“Angel Hidalgo started the 2021 season without a Challenge Tour card before getting his chance through some invites and quickly picked up his first victory. He had a pretty good week at the Grand Final and seemed to relish the environment last year and looked to be enjoying himself.
“There will no doubt be some young guys break through this year that no one has heard anything about, but in terms of established guys who have the most potential, Angel Hidalgo stands out above anyone else for me. He has adapted quickly and if he can take some momentum into the start of the season, he should be towards the top of the Rankings at the end of the year.“
