CALUM Hill will attempt to join a select number of players to seal their European Tour card at the Rolex Trophy when the action gets under way on Wednesday.
The Scotsman has won twice during the 2019 European Challenge Tour season at the Euram Bank Open and the Made in Denmark Challenge.
The Gleneagles pro will look to claim his third title of the year at Golf Club de Genève and seal immediate promotion to the European Tour via the three-win rule.
Following the success of the ISPS Handa World Invitational last week, where men and women played for equal prize funds, the Rolex Trophy brings another different format as the top 39 ranked players, plus one invite, will play alongside amateurs in the four-day pro-am contest, which finishes on Saturday.
Last year’s champion Kim Koivu was the fourth player to complete the three-win feat in Geneva, clinching his third victory of the year at the event, following in the footsteps of Benjamin Hebert, Kristoffer Broberg and Nacho Elvira, who achieved the same success in 2011, 2012 and 2015, respectively.
“I’ve definitely thought about it,” said Hill. “I’m not just playing to see what happens, I want to play well and get that third win.”
Hill added: “If that happens, then that is the goal achieved, and if not, then I’ll hopefully stay inside the top 15 in the Rankings and get my European Tour card that way.”
Hill, who claimed his first professional win on the Challenge Tour at the Galgorm Resort & Spa Northern Ireland Open 12 months ago, has continued to impress this year, recording two wins, a tied third, and a share of seventh in his last four outings to become the new Challenge Tour No. 1.
The recent upturn in form began on home soil at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, where he carded rounds of 68, 64, 71 and 66 to earn a share of 26th place.
However, it is the work at the beginning of the year which the Scotsman points towards, having reaped the benefits over the past four weeks.
Hill revealed: “I think for most players the aim at the start of the year is to finish as high as possible.
“So if that means being No. 1 then that’s brilliant, but there is still lots of time left in the season but it is nice to be there right now.
“Work that has gone on for the past six months has fallen into place now. I wouldn’t say there are factors or assets that have clicked in my game, I just think I’m playing better golf.”
Antoine Rozner, who Hill overtook in the rankings last week, also has the chance to become the fifth player to win the Rolex Trophy and seal European Tour playing rights at the same time, following his wins at the Challenge de España and Prague Golf Challenge.
The pair will tee off at 12.05pm local time with the Rolex Trophy getting under way at 8:30am on August 21. For live scoring click here.
