Lee Westwood is on the verge of history with a 25th European Tour victory on the table if he can win the 2020 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

LEE Westwood takes a one-shot lead into the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship as he goes in search of a second Rolex Series title – and his 25th European Tour title.

The “Worksop Wonder,” who now lives in Newcastle’s Jesmond district, produced the shot of the week so far – to set up an eagle on the par-five eighth in a round of 65 that moved him to 14-under par.

That total was a shot clear of Italian Francesco Laporta and Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, who claimed two Rolex Series titles in 2019.

The 34-year-old would become the first to win three different Rolex events if he can get to the top of the leader board at the end of Sunday’s fourth round in the United Arab Emirates.

Westwood ended a four-year hunt for a European Tour title with an emotional victory at the 2018 Nedbank Golf Challenge.

And the former World No. 1 would take his tally to a remarkable 25 wins across four different decades with a triumph at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, on Sunday.

Westwood said: “I played well. I holed a couple of putts early on which gave me some momentum and then hit a brilliant shot into eight, the par five – with a hybrid – 266 yards to about three feet.

“I then backed it up with a birdie at nine, so a bit of momentum, got on a roll. Had birdie chances on the back nine.

“A bit unlucky on 14, birdied 16 which is not the easiest hole on the course, and a nice birdie at the last.

Westwood, a veteran of 10 Ryder Cup appearances since his debut in Seve Ballesteros’ European-winning team at Valderrama in 1997, revealed he has not been taking it totally easy while resting over the short winter break.

“I’m working on a couple of things on my swing and if I don’t quite get it right I get a bit of pull and I pulled the second shot into 11,” revealed Westwood, who has traditionally always been taught by his dad.

“I didn’t play the best chip, I could to have got it close, but made a nice 15 -footer. They are the kind of putts you need to hole.

“Feel a bit uncomfortable on the greens at the moment. I’ve gone to the claw or pencil grip. I’m hitting a lot of putts where I’m intending to.

“Pretty good at reading these greens and I’m starting on the lines I want.

“Pretty excited. It’s always a bonus to be in contention, and that’s basically why we come out here.

“I’m not going to lie. I didn’t play a lot of golf coming into it – didn’t know what to expect.

“To be in the lead with one round to go or could be tied for the lead when the other lads finish, it’s a real positive.”

Meanwhile, Wiesberger finished with three birdies in a 65 of his own, while Laporta followed up his second round 63 with a 69 to join him at 13 -under.

“Very pleased with today’s work. Obviously at the end it was a little bit wayward at the last, said Wiesberger.

“But glad to hole a nice putt on the last green to come home in 65, and it was quite good.

“I drove it really nicely all day – long and straight, which always helps and I was quite comfortable with my irons, getting it dialled in.

“Unfortunately left a few putts out there on the back nine, but all-in-all, I was able to pick up some longer ones on the last few holes.

“Very pleased with today’s results, added Wiesberger, who won the Scottish and Italian Opens in 2019, and is expected to make his Ryder Cup debut for Padraig Harrington’s European team at Whistling Straits, in September.

“I just feel quite comfortable. Sometimes with me if I get a good tempo, I like putting on these greens, and I feel like I have a good understanding of the pace of the green.

“You know, if you’re confident on the greens, you can make a few out here, but if you’re just off the green, it makes it a bit more frustrating,” added Wiesberger,

“So far, it’s been good on the greens and hopefully continue that into tomorrow,” said Wiesberger, who had to recover from wrist surgery before leading the Race to Dubai going into the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, in November.

The Vienna pro eventually finished third on the Order of Merit behind winner Jon Rahm and runner-up Tommy Fleetwood, who could well be his Ryder Cup team-mates in eight months’ time.

Step-up in class for Rolex Series gave Challenge Tour No. 1 nerves

LAPORTA, who was the winner of the 2019 Race to Mallorca on the Challenge Tour, admitted the step up in class had brought some nerves in his third round having lead after 36 holes.

“I was a bit nervous on the first tee box,” said Laporta who won twice in 2019, including the Challenge Tour Grand Final at Mallorca’s Club de Golf Alcanada.

“Made a bad mistake on two, I was trying to hit it in the middle of the fairway for the second shot and pulled it, so I made a bogey there.

“Then I started to play some good golf and made one birdie coming out, so the front nine wasn’t bad and I played solid on the back nine.

“It would be just a dream,” Laporta admitted about the chances of winning his maiden European Tour victory so early in the new season.

“I just want to think about my score and my game,” the Frenchman added.

“Trying not to see the leaderboard – it’s not going to be easy. There’s going to be leaderboards everywhere. I think it’s going to be a good day tomorrow.”

Sheffield’s Matthew Fitzpatrick is in fourth place in the United Arab Emirates at 12-under – one-shot clear of 2017 Masters Champion Sergio Garcia and American Kurt Kitayama, who is looking for a third win after picking up two early in last year’s rookie season.

Fitzpatrick and Garcia have yet to win a Rolex Series event since their introduction in 2017 in an event to boost prize money, and keep Europe’s top stars playing on this side of the Atlantic as much as possible.

Belgian Thomas Detry and Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello are at 10-under, with Surrey’s Ross Fisher and Lancashire’s Jack Senior a shot back alongside South Africans Zander Lombard and Louis Oosthuizen and Germany’s Sebastian Heisele.

Only Cabrera-Bello has won a Rolex Series event in that chasing pack.

The Spaniard beat Hertfordshire’s Callum Shinkwin in a play-off, at the 2017 Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, at Dundonald.

•For live scoring in Sunday’s fourth round click here.

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Italy’s Francesco Laporta – last year’s European Challenge Tour No. 1 – shot a superb 63 with five birdies in a row to finish to jump up 49 places on the leaderboard after the second round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

FRANCESCO Laporta birdied his last five holes in a stunning nine-under par round of 63 to leap to the top of the leaderboard at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

The Italian secured his playing rights after topping the European Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca Rankings in 2019.

And he displayed the form that saw him win twice in three weeks last season as he went bogey-free to get to 10 under par after the second round of the first Rolex Series event in the 2020 Race to Dubai.

Laporta seems to have taken inspiration from fellow countryman Francesco Molinari’s achievements.

Since his victory in The Open, in 2018, and helped Europe inflict the heaviest ever Ryder Cup defeat on the USA in Paris three months later, Laporta has joined the winners circle in 2019.

Meanwhile Guido Migliozzi has picked up two wins on the European Tour last season and Andrea Pavan won twice since Molinari’s Major breakthrough to add to the growing Italian success on the Continent.

Laporta would clearly love to join Migliozzi, Pavan and the Molinari brothers as winners on the European Tour.

“I played solid all 18 holes,” said Laporta. “My putting was solid, my driver, my irons.

“I gave myself a lot of opportunity for birdies, and so when I had the opportunities, I took it. Every time I was putting for birdie, I made it. It was a great day.

“I’m feeling good. On the Challenge Tour I got more opportunity to play, so that was good.

“I didn’t start the season good. I missed the cut in South Africa two times, and this is the third event and I’m leading, so I just want to enjoy the weekend.”

Yorkshire’s former US Amateur Champion Matt Fitzpatrick had set the target at nine-under – without dropping a shot in his last 36 holes.

And it looked as if the five-time European Tour winner would be the man to beat, before Spain’s Rolex Series winner Rafa Cabrera-Bello made four birdies on the back nine to join him.

But Laporta went one better, recording the lowest round of the week – and his lowest of the season so far after missed cuts in his opening two events – to overtake the Ryder Cup team-mates.

Fitzpatrick, who had four runner ups finishes in 2019 is still looking for his first win since teaming up with caddy Billy Foster, long-term caddy of Lee Westwood, earlier last season.

Fitzpatrick, whose last win came at the Omega European Masters in 2018, said: “For the first week of the year to have no bogeys, I couldn’t ask for a better start.

“Just played really disciplined golf and it’s worked out well so far.

“I took it easy as soon as I finished in Dubai, slowly started to build it up and then two weeks ago really into it and got ready for the start of the year.

“But when we went to play nine holes on Tuesday, I felt a little bit uncomfortable.

It all felt sort of new again after seven weeks off, and then as the round went on, I got into it again.

“For me every event is the same. You’re here to win. It’s always a nice bonus, playing for more money and more Ryder Cup points, but you’ve got to go in with the same attitude.”

Cabrera-Bello was also pleased with his form as he looks to add a second Rolex Series title to his CV after winning the Scottish Open three years ago.

Rafa said: “Very pleased obviously for posting another very good score. My game got better throughout the day, and I played good golf.

“I made some really, really good putts that gave me great momentum, but then I also hit some good shots that gave myself opportunities.

“I’ve been doing things good and I’m having that little bit of luck that you always need, added Cabrera Bello, who has a win in the United Arab Emirates after victoy in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in 2012.

“I’ve pretty much done what I do every off-season. I had some time off, I enjoyed it and took my mind off golf.

“And then I practiced hard at the beginning of the year and preparing myself for these weeks. It hasn’t been anything particularly different than other years.

“I played better on the back nine, primarily because those two huge putts made the biggest difference, but I mean, we’ve played here before.

“We know almost every kind of wind that can happen here, and we want it to be calm.

“But we kind of know that in the afternoons, the wind tends to pick up, and we just have to feel lucky that on the front nine, it wasn’t so windy.

Koepka struggles after fast start in 1st round

MAJOR winner Sergio Garcia and Italy’s Renato Paratore are two shots off the lead at eight-under.

World No. 6 Patrick Cantlay – fellow American Kurt Kitayama– Spaniard Adri Arnaus, 2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen and former World No. 1 Lee Westwood are next at seven-under.

World No. 1 Brooks Koepka, who was two shots off the lead after a fine 66 on Thursday, fared less well on his return to competitive golf after his knee problems in 2019.

The four-time Major winner made a birdie, birdie start before dropping three shots in three holes, after a double bogey at the fifth.

A two at the seventh was cancelled out by a bogey at the eighth and another double at the 11th after he picked up his fourth birdie at the 10th, was compoounded by a bogey six at the last.

That saw the Florida ace slide down the leaderboard to 33rd place after a three-over par 75.

That left last year’s USPGA Champion on three-under, alongside tournament co-favourite Tommy Fleetwood, who added a 70 to his opening 71.

•To follow Francesco Laporta and the rest of the live scores in Saturday’s third round click here.

The post How Italian Job by Francesco Laporta drove him to the top of Abu Dhabi leaderboard appeared first on Golf North.

Italy’s Francesco Laporta followed up his win at the Hainan Open with a wire-to-wire victory at the Challenge Tour Grand Final, in Mallorca. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

FRANCESCO Laporta secured a wire-to-wire victory at the Challenge Tour Grand Final at Mallorca’s Club de Golf Alcanada.

And in doing so finished the season as the 2019 Road to Mallorca No. 1, overtaking Scotland’s Calum Hill, who could not add to his two previous Challenge Tour wins in 2019.

The Italian battled testing conditions, which delayed the start of the final round and caused a suspension in the morning, to post a closing level-par 71.

His six-under total was good enough to win the Grand Final by two strokes from Germany’s Sebastian Heisele and Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist, who shared second place on four-under.

But Heisele made a putt for birdie at the last which would have handed Sciot-Siegrist solo second if he had missed – and the points to move the latter into the top 15 players,

Sciot Siegrist missed out on a European Tour card for 2020 by €1,419 in the end.

But it was Laporta’s second win in his last three starts after his victory at China’s Hainan Open last month.

Laporta joins the Challenge Tour Roll of Honour as Road to Mallorca No. 1, finishing more than 50,000 points ahead of Hill, who could only finish in a share of 27th, some 13 shots behind the champion.

Hampshire’s Richard Bland secured a return to the European Tour at the first time of asking by finishing third in the Road to Mallorca rankings, with Heisele’s tie for second place moving him up to fourth.

The 46-year-old Stoneham member – who earned promotion to the European Tour after his Challenge Tour Grand Final win in Bordeaux 18 years ago – will be looking to finally break his duck after more than 500 appearances without a maiden win at the top tier.

Adrian Meronk will become the first-ever Polish player to have full European Tour playing privileges in 2020 after finishing fifth on the rankings, while Lancashire’s Jack Senior and Robin Roussel finished sixth and seventh, respectively.

Early season wins at the Challenge de España and Prague Golf Challenge earned Antoine Rozner eighth place.

Graduation was secured by Royal Liverpool’s Matthew Jordan in his rookie season by finishing ninth, while Portugal’s Ricardo Santos, Northern Ireland’s Cormac Sharvin and Wales’ Oliver Farr finished in the next three spots.

Holland’s Rolex Trophy winner Darius van Driel and Scot Connor Syme, who won the season-opener at the Turkish Airlines Challenge, cemented spots 13 and 14.

Spaniard Sebastian Garcia-Rodriguez earned the final European Tour card by finishing in 15th position.

It was a nail-biting end to the day for the Spaniard, who posted rounds of 76 and 77 over the weekend.

Garcia-Rodriguez was forced to watch as Sciot-Siegrist missed a birdie putt on the final hole, before seeing Heisele get down safely for par in the final group of the day.

Had the German missed, Sciot-Siegrist would have finished solo second behind Laporta and leapfrogged Garcia-Rodriguez into the final graduation spot.

The Frenchman was only 1,369 points behind Garcia Rodriguez and he was followed by Ben Stow and Wil Besseling, who finished 17th and 18th respectively.

The first European Tour events the Class of 2019 will be eligible to play in will be the Hong Kong Open and the Alfred Dunhill Championship, which both take place from November 28-December 1.

•The third and final stage of the European Tour Qualifying School will take place at Lumine, in Spain, later this week, when another 25 cards will be up for grabs.

To see the results from stage two – play at Alenda Golf and Club de Golf Bonmont was distrupted over the weekend – click here.

The players who finished in the top 15 in the Road to Mallorca rankings who earned a European Tour card for 2020. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

The post Laporta opens the door to European Tour debut with Challenge Tour Grand Final appeared first on Golf North.

Italy’s Francesco Laporta held on to his one-shot lead at the Challenge Tour Grand Final at Mallorca’s Alcanada Golf Club. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

FRANCESCO Laporta held on to his narrow lead at the halfway stage of the Challenge Tour Grand Final, at Mallorca’s Club de Golf Alcanada.

And the Italian is in pole position to be crowned Road to Mallorca No. 1 after a two-under par second round of 69 left him in pole position with two rounds to play.

Laporte’s round moved him to five-under in total, one stroke clear of Spain’s Sebastian Garcia-Rodriguez and two ahead of Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist.

But Surrey’s Ross McGowan posted a bogey-free 66 to move into sixth with a further move up the leaderboard in his sights on Saturday.

McGowan who won the 2009 Madrid Open on the European Tour and has three more wins on the Challenge Tour to his name, said: “The greens were slower today.

“The wind was probably a bit stronger yesterday and the greens were quicker. I think I had four three-putts and really struggled on them.

“Today, I putted a lot better,” said the Banstead GC member who lost his card on the European Tour back in 2011, but won the D+D REAL Czech Challenge in May.

“The wind was still up pretty early doors. I had to hit three-wood into the first after a good drive, whereas yesterday we had pretty calm conditions during the first few holes,” said McGowan.

“The wind was going in a different direction today and it made a few holes on the back nine a little bit easier.

“I think 13 and 14, which were really tough yesterday, were easier today because we could hit irons in there – and it was much more favourable.

“I need two more of the same over the weekend and I’ll take that right now,” McGowan added.

“I think I’ve just got to carry on what I was doing today. I had much more focus and with the greens, I was seeing the speed a lot better.”

The low round of the day – and the week so far – belonged to Somerset’s Laurie Canter, who bounced back from an opening round of 80 with a 65.

After 36 holes on the Balearic island, current projections show the top 15 – who will earn a European Tour card for 2020 come Sunday – would be unchanged if the tournament were to have end this afternoon.

Darius van Driel is still clinging onto the last card, but several players have given themselves a shot of glory with two rounds remaining over the weekend on the Spanish holiday island.

Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson is the man best-placed to break into the graduation spots.

The Glasgow Walker Cup player’s second consecutive level par round of 71 moved him into a tie for seventh place heading into the weekend – and 16th on the Road to Mallorca rankings, just 4,854 points behind van Driel.

But Laporta, the winner of last month’s Hainan Open, in China, is the man they have to beat to earn the biggest winners’ prize of the season.

Laporta, who has only missed the cut once in his last 16 events, said: “It was a bit more windy today.

“We had the wind for the entire 18 holes, whereas yesterday it came down for around five or six holes.

“It wasn’t easy – the greens were a bit slower and less firm. There were some tough pin positions and the other guys played solid, so it was a good game.

“Everyone enjoyed the round and we had a good fight. Hopefully we’ll have another good fight tomorrow.

“I’m going to practice a bit this afternoon, then I’m going to go and play PlayStation.”

Nearest challenger Garcia-Rodriguez said: “I played very solid on the front nine although the putter wasn’t working perfectly.

“But on the back nine I played lovely. I had two chip-ins, on the 13^th and 15^th and the rest of the holes I played so well,” said the Spaniard, who would love to win on home soil.

“I just stuck to the process to turn it around today. Check the wind, make a good swing – that was my key. There will be a lot of people here this weekend cheering me on, why not go for the win?”

European Tour card battle goes to to last hole

SCIOT-Siegrist knows the race to be crowned overall champion will almost certainly go to the wire, especially if the winds which were forecasted to reach 30mph on Friday, turn out stronger than the 10mph expected over the weekend.

“Anything can happen, literally. I know I’m far off in the rankings and that I need to finish top two or better,” said Sciot-Siegrist.

“But I came here this week knowing I needed to finish top two and I started to play well a couple weeks ago – and then seeing this course… I like this course.

“There are just a lot of things that tell you that something can happen, but it’s the top players on the Challenge Tour playing this week and you know it’s going to be tough… but we’ll see.

“There’s a lot of wind and the course is very tricky. I struggle on easy courses because target golf is not really something that I do very well.

“This is just the kind of course that makes you frustrated, you need to think a little bit about your shots, and then the wind comes in, it’s like a British Amateur.”

Germany’s Sebastian Heisele and Royal Liverpool’s Matthew Jordan, who both looked to have secured their European Tour playing privileges for next year, share fourth place on two-under.

The third round at Club de Golf Alcanada will begin at 7.30am GMT, with the top three of Laporta, Garcia Rodriguez and Sciot-Siegrist making up the final group who go out at 10.05am.

•Follow live scoring by clicking here.

The post Laporta leads after blustery day at Challenge Tour Grand Final at Mallorca’s Alcanada appeared first on Golf North.

Italy’s Francesco Laporta leads the Road to Mallorca after taking the first round lead in the Challenge Tour Grand Final with a three-under par 68. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

FRANCESCO Laporta began the Challenge Tour Grand Final occupying the second position on the Road to Mallorca rankings… but now the Italian is projected to become Challenge Tour No. 1 by Sunday, after taking the first-round lead.

Laporta carded five birdies against only two bogeys to sign for a three -under par 68, which was one shot better than his nearest rivals on the difficult Club de Golf Alcanada layout.

“It was a tough round today,” said Laporta. “The wind came up this morning, then went down and then it came up again during the last couple of holes.

“I played solid and only missed a couple of putts on the first two holes, but after that the putter worked better.

“I’m pretty happy about my round and we’ll just have to see what happens in the next few days.

“The No. 1 spot is in my mind, for sure. I came here to fight for the first spot and I will fight all week for that.

“It’s a good start and hopefully I have another one tomorrow.”

Laporta’s strong start continues an impressive run of form for the 29-year-old, who recently finished as the low-Italian at the European Tour’s Italian Open, a Rolex Series event, before winning the Hainan Open the following week.

Laporta holds a one-stroke advantage over home-favourite Sebastian Garcia-Rodriguez and Welshman Rhys Enoch, who each carded rounds of 70.

Now the Challenge Tour Grand Final is under way, the projected Road to Mallorca rankings come into focus – with the leading 15 players on the season-long points race earning European Tour cards at the end of the week.

While Garcia-Rodriguez began the tournament positioned 13^th on the order of merit, Enoch teed it up outside of the coveted cut off in 25th.

But the winner of the D+D Real Slovakia Challenge in July, who currently sits in a two-way tie for second place, is now projected to climb inside the magic number – and finish the year in 13^th.

Enoch, who hailed from Cornwall, but now lives in Cardiff, said: “It was very tricky. I don’t think we realised how tricky it was going to be.

“I think the wind was quite calm earlier and I thought the scoring was going to be low.

“It’s just easy to drop shots, really, really easy. I did that really well today – keeping the bogeys off the card – with only one drop,” said a happy Enoch.

“So it was just about patience and missing in the right spots, especially with how sloped the greens are.

“The wind on the front nine was all over the place. I’m really pleased.

“There are plenty of different outcomes, but I’m focused on winning really.

“Second would probably be enough if I’m on my own, but then I’m relying on a lot of other people.

“I’ve just got to try and win because that takes care of it, so that’s my aim,” added Enoch, who became a father when Carter was born in August.

Oliver Farr, who came into the Grand Final holding the 15^th and final European Tour card, overcame a triple bogey and a double bogey to finish his round in a tie for 11^th place on one-over.

That is currently enough for the Welshman – who grew up playing golf at Kidderminster’s Cleobury Golf Club – to hold onto the final graduation spot, having lost his European Tour card in 2015 and 2018.

Farr, who is attached to Hereford’s Burghill GC, said: “There were two bad holes but 16 pretty good ones and looking at the scoring today, to only have two holes where I dropped shots today is pretty good.

“Obviously I dropped a lot of shots on those holes. It was a challenging day on the greens, but I felt like I handled them pretty well, and hopefully we can make amend for these errors tomorrow.

“Playing the practice round it was one of the first weeks where I haven’t been able to feel what a good score was,” said Farr, who played less events this season to spend more time with his family – after becoming a father for the second time in April, and following a bereavement in his family since.

“Sometimes you can sense what a good score is. People were asking me and I didn’t know. I thought the set-up was fair,” added 31-year-old Farr, winner of the Lalla Aicha Challenge Tour, in Morocco, in early October.

“There were some tough pins and that’s probably why the scoring is down, but I’m only a few shots behind and it’s early days yet, so hopefully I can push up.”

Challenge Tour Grand Final debutant Garcia-Rodriguez was happy to be playing on the Balearic island.

Sebastian said: “The golf course is amazing. The greens are very difficult.

“The key for me today was the second shot. My strategy on the tee box was to hit a lot of drivers, which set me up nicely.

“In general I’m so happy. It’s my first time playing in the Challenge Tour Grand Final and this start has made me so happy.

“I don’t feel any additional pressure. It’s the next tournament. It’s the same – the same balls, the same clubs, the same tees,” Garcia-Rodriguez added.

“The conditions are probably the best we’ve had the entire year in terms of difficulty. It’s so hard and it feels similar to the European Tour.

“My game plan has been the same for the entire year. At the start of this year I told myself I would just take it shot-by-shot.

“I played 10 tournaments on the Alps Tour at the start of the year after losing my Challenge Tour status two years ago, and this wasn’t even in my mind in January of this year.

“So for me I’m just so happy to be here.”

The second round of the Challenge Tour Grand Final begins on Friday at 7.30am GMT with Laporta, Garcia-Rodriguez and Enoch set to go at 10.05am.

•For live scoring at Club de Golf Alcanada click here.

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Dutchman Wil Besseling is hoping for a late run at the Challenge Tour Grand Final, at Mallorca’s lub de Golf Alcanada. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

WIL Besseling goes into the Challenge Tour Grand Final with a real chance of earning a European Tour card at the end of the week.

Such an outcome would complete a drastic change in fortunes for the player ranked No. 18 on the Road to Mallorca going into the season’s climax on the Spanish island.

The Dutchman was the first man to miss out on a spot in the season-finale in 2018, finishing 46th in the rankings.

And, prior to the event, Besseling was just 359 points behind last-man-in Antoine Rozner.

However, bolstered by a tie for third place at the Hainan Open, Besseling will tee it up at Club de Golf Alcanada, Mallorca, just two places outside the all-important top 15 with success on Sunday at the forefront of his mind.

“Being here and being in the Grand Final is nice,” said Besseling. “The Challenge Tour has done a good job in finding this place and having the Grand Final here.

“I’ve been playing decent over the last two months. I feel my game has grown and mentally I’m getting stronger so hopefully I can do well this week.

“Obviously I need a good finish here to get my card, but I’m feeling confident to actually do it, so hopefully on Sunday I’ll be able to get my card,” Besseling added.

“It’s a new course for everyone so it’s hard to think about scores, so I’m not thinking about that.

“You need to do everything well to actually win this event because everyone is playing well and everyone’s got a chance to win this week.”

The 33-year-old Dutchman was in contention for his first European Challenge Tour win in 11 years in Hainan.

But after finding the water on the penultimate hole he carded a double-bogey, that forced him to settle for a share of third place.

A tied 46th place finish in the Foshan Open ended a strong two weeks for the man from The Netherlands – during which he more than halved his Road to Mallorca ranking.

Besseling said” “I was 40th going into China so missing out again did go through my mind. But I felt good going into those events.

“The last few months have been going well so I was happy to be in contention in the first week in China in Hainan.

“I actually expected a bit more in the second week. I wanted to be in a similar position to the week before – but that’s golf I guess.

“I was pretty pleased with how I played in China and it gave me a chance to get my card this week. It’s been good and hopefully I can get the job done.”

The Challenge Tour Grand Final is the 24th and final event on the Road to Mallorca, where the top 45 players compete for one of 15 European Tour cards on offer.

Such is the breakdown of prize money this week in Mallorca, any player will graduate to the European Tour with a victory – giving everyone in the field a shot at glory.

There are nine English and three Scots in the field. Gleneagles’ two-time winner Calum Hill heads the money list while Hampshire’s Richard Bland will be hoping for a repeat of his Challenge Tour Grand Final win in Bordeaux, in 2001 – still the 46-year-old’s only victory of his professional career.

Bland, who is ranked third, is one of three English players inside the top 15 before play commences.

The likes of Cheshire’s Matthew Jordan (10th), and Lancashire’s Jack Senior (7th), who have a win each on the Challenge Tour in 2019, are hoping to maintain their place in the top 15 to ensure graduation.

Meanwhile Wiltshire’s Ben Stow (17th) will be hoping to move up at least two places to gatecrash the party.

Oliver Farr (15th) and Rhys Enoch (25th) will fly the flag for Wales this week, while Cormac Sharvin is Northern Ireland’s sole representative in Mallorca, sitting pretty currently in ninth place.

Playing privileges on the top tier is not the only prize on offer this week, as the battle to be crowned Challenge Tour No. 1 reaches its conclusion.

Italy’s Francesco Laporta, who is currently second, hopes to make up the 5,277 points to overtake Hill at top – and prevent any charge from Bland, who is another 1,712 points behind.

The Challenge Tour Grand Final will begin at 7.30am GMT with France’s Ugo Coussaud, Somerset’s Laurie Canter and Spaniard Carlos Pigem playing in the first group out, with Besseling set to go off at 9.09am.

•For live scoring click here.

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Bai Zheng-kai became the first Chinese player to win on the European Challenge Tour by four shots at the Foshan Open thanks to an excellent final round of 65.
Picture by RICHARD CASTKA / SPORTPIXGOLF.COM

HISTORY was made at the Foshan Open as Bai Zheng-kai became the first Chinese player to win on the European Challenge Tour shooting six-under on the back nine to secure victory at Foshan Golf Club.

Bai signed for a seven-under par 65 to post 23-under for the tournament – four strokes clear of Dou Zecheng, who finished second on 19 under.

Scotland’s Calum Hill – who needed victory to earn automatic promotion to the European Tour – finished with five successive birdies to get to 18-under and return to the top of the Road to Mallorca rankings thanks to his third-place finish.

However, the day belonged to 22-year-old Bai, who showed maturity beyond his years as he put the Foshan course to the sword over the final nine holes, and made Challenge Tour history in the process.

“It feels amazing,” Bai said. “Becoming the first Chinese player to win the Foshan Open is unbelievable. I’ve had a great week and I’m very happy.

“All the Europeans are good players and it just feels amazing to win this tournament. I’m honoured to become the first Chinese player to win on the Challenge Tour.”

Bai, also known as Bobby, set a new course record in the second round when he posted a bogey-free 63. And the PGA Tour China player drew on that experience as he came down the stretch with victory in his sights.

“I looked at the leaderboard around the turn and felt like I needed a few more birdies,” said Zheng-kai.

“My ball-striking was good, my putting kept me going along the last couple of holes and I made a lot of birdies.

“I also played pretty well when I shot 63 on Friday. I made a lot of putts and my ball-striking was really good. Everything fell into place that day.”

One shot behind Hill in a tie for fourth place was Hampshire’s Richard Bland and Germany’s Alexander Knappe on 17-under, while Poland’s Adrian Meronk, Denmark’s Benjamin Poke and Wiltshire’s Ben Stow shared sixth place on 16-under.

Royal Liverpool’s Matthew Jordan, Christofer Blomstrand, and overnight leader Ricardo Santos, who posted a one over-par 73 on Sunday, complete the top 10 in a share for ninth place a further shot back.

Final scores in Foshan Open

As Bai is not a member of the European Challenge Tour, he will not receive the Road to Mallorca Rankings points allocated for the winner of the Foshan Open.

As a result Bai is ineligible to play in the Challenge Tour Grand Final next month. But he does earn a start in the WGC-HSBC Champions event in Shanghai this week.

Nervious finish in Race to Mallorca

ONE man who will play at Club de Golf Alcanada next month is Hill, who finished solo third to replace Hainan Open Champion Francesco Laporta at the top of the Road to Mallorca rankings.

Bland’s tie for fourth spot moves him to third place in the rankings and will mean there is one Challenge Tour Grand Final winner in the field at

Knappe, who played on an invite this week, climbed 43 places to 46th position on the Road to Mallorca.

But the German missed out on a spot in the Challenge Tour Grand Final, by just 882 points – the only consolation was Knappe, a two-time Challenge Tour winner, did secure full playing privileges for next year.

Somerset’s Laurie Canter made it through in 44th spot, one of nine Englishmen, including Bland (3rd), Lancastrians Jack Senior (7th) and Matthew Baldwin (38th), Jordan (10th) Stowe (17th), Kent’s Steve Tiley (30th), Essex’s Dale Whitnell (34th) and Surrey’s Ross McGowan (40th) to make it through to the season’s finale.

Those that missed out were Essex’s Todd Clements (50th) and Staffordshire’s Richard Mansell (64th), who played limited schedules having graduated from the EuroPro Tour via sponsors’ invites.

Kent’s Matt Ford (61st) and 2013 Amateur Champion Garrick Porteous (56th) will now head to the European Tour Qualifying School along with Lincolnshire’s David Coupland, Walton Heath’s former Welsh international David Boote and Scotland’s Bradley Neil, who won the Amateur Championship, at Royal Portrush, in 2014

There is now a week’s break on the Challenge Tour schedule as the top 45 players prepare for the final event of the season in Mallorca, where the leading 15 players will earn full European Tour cards for next season.

Scotland’s Conor Syme currently in 12th place will need a good week to lock up his European Tour card while his Walker Cup team-mate Jordan – a winner of the Italian Challenge Open – will also be looking nervously over his shoulder.

Meanwhile the other four Englishmen in the field know a victory in Mallorca will guarantee them the ultimate prize of a place on the European Tour in 2020.

Last year Portugal’s Pedro Figueiredo claimed the 15th card with 94,339 points. Wales Oliver Farr currently occupies that spot with 77,027 points so will most likely need a top 20 finish to guarantee his third promotion from the Challenge Tour since 2014.

•See the current Road to Mallorca standings by clicking here.

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