Robin Roussel aims to go one better than in the Hainan Open by winning the Foshan Open in China, in his quest to be crowned No. 1 on the European Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

ROBIN Roussel is taking inspiration from last year’s champion Victor Perez as he bids to move to the top of the Road to Mallorca with a strong performance at this week’s Foshan Open.

The Frenchman is currently in second place on the Road to Mallorca rankings following a runner-up finish at the Hainan Open last week.

Roussel will now go in search of his second win of the season in the event which offers the biggest prize fund, at Foshan Golf Club, from October 24-27.

His first European Challenge Tour victory came on home soil, at the Hauts de France Pas de Calais Golf Open in June, while Perez claimed the Alfred Dunhill Links – the first rookie winner at St Andrews, last month.

And after securing his European Tour playing privileges in Hainan, Roussel now has his eye on being crowned Road to Mallorca No. 1, a posiition currently occupied by Italian Francesco Laporta, the winner in Hainan.

Rouseel knows his form from 2019 could provide a vital platform for next season.

Robin said: “We have seen Victor Perez, Robert MacIntyre, Romain Langasque and some others, like Sebastian Soderberg, play well this year.

“It brings me a lot of confidence because it shows that everybody who jumped from Challenge Tour to the European Tour can perform straightaway.

“To win the Road to Mallorca would mean a lot because it obviously means you’re the one at the top at the end of the season.

“It means that you can perform in the biggest events of the season, which means a lot because it means you can be clutch in the right moments.

“The last three events are the three biggest so if you want to finish well in the rankings then you need to finish strongly in these events.

“I have been really looking forward to these last three because if you finish in the top five on the rankings, then you have to play well in these last three events.”

A year ago in Foshan, MacIntyre and Perez both holed very long putts on the 72nd hole – MacIntyre for eagle and Perez for birdie – to reach a play-off, which the Frenchman won to move up from outside the top 15 to second on the money list.

With a cheque for $70,000 available to this week’s winner there is everything to play for those who occupy the top 15 places, which are separated by 55,000 points.

Germany’s Alex Knappe could – depending on the finishing positions of other players – move from 89th on the Road to Mallorca to the cusp of the top 15 with a win in China so there is plenty to play for in the Foshan Open.

It represents a week which could transform a whole season.

Hampshire’s Richard Bland – the oldest player inside the top 15 who will earn their full European Tour card for 2020 at 46 years old – is currently in fifth place.

The Stoneham GC member won the Challenge Tour Grand Final in 2001, his only victory in 21 years on Tour.

Bland has had three runner-up places and a third this year, his most successful in six full seasons on the Challenge Tour, and is looking to earn promotion back to the European Tour for a fourth time.

Scotland’s Calum Hill – winner of the Made in Denmark and Euram Bank Open – is in fourth, while Lancashire’s Jack Senior, who finished first in the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland, in August, is sixth going into the Foshan Open.

All three have realistic ambitions of claiming the top spot.

That trio will be looking to close the gap on Laporta and Roussel this week, while other Home Nation players – Cormac Sharvin, from Northern Ireland, in eighth place, Royal Liverpool’s Matthew Jordan (10th), Scotland’s Conor Symes (13th), and Welshman Oliver Farr – the recent winner in Morocco – who occupies the crucial 15th spot, can all take a big step towards wrapping up their card for 2020.

Twenty-eight-year-old Roussel is experiencing the end-of-season ‘Chinese Swing’ for the first time and has been impressed thus far, particularly with the organisation of each event.

“I have enjoyed my time in China so far,” Roussel said. “Last week was amazing on Hainan Island and I just arrived here in Foshan on Monday.

“I played the course for the first time and it is a lovely course. I heard this event was so well-organised and I have witnessed it since I’ve been here. I’m enjoying it very much.”

This week offers players the final opportunity to book their place at the season-ending Challenge Tour Grand Final at Club de Golf Alcanada, Mallorca.

Only the top 45 players on the Road to Mallorca rankings at the conclusion of the Foshan Open will tee it up in the event, meaning the plethora of players currently outside that mark have it all to do this week to secure a spot in the field.

Somerset’s Laurie Canter occupies the crucial 45th place while Essex’s Todd Clements is currently ranked 46th on the Road to Mallorca.

Canadian Aaron Cockerill, who has three top 10 finishes in his last four starts, sits in 47th place.

On the bubble in the 50s are Lincolnshire’s David Coupland (53rd), former Amateur Champion Garrick Porteous (57th) Walton Heath’s David Boote (58th), and Kent’s Matt Ford (59th), who all need a good week to qualify for the season finale.

To see the current Road to Mallorca rankings click here.

The 2019 Foshan Open will begin at 6.55am local time tomorrow (Thursday), with Dutchman Wil Besseling, Simon Hawkes and Wiltshire Ben Stow getting the action under way from the 10th tee, while Roussel will begin his tournament at 7.45am from the first.

•For live scoring in Foshan click here.

The post Roussel eyes top spot on the Road to Mallorca but pack are closing at Foshan Open appeared first on Golf North.

Matthew Jordan is seeking his second win on the European Challenge Tour in the Hainan Open, and is ina seven-way tie for first at the halfway point. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

SEVEN players share the 36-hole lead on seven-under at the Hainan Open, following a day of relatively low scoring at China’s Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club.

Holland’s Wil Besseling, Frenchman Robin Roussel and China’s Liu Yanwei set the target after teeing off early on day two, while Hampshire’s Richard Bland and Royal Liverpool’s Matthew Jordan – plus China’s Xiao Bowen and South Korean Jaewoong Eom – joined them on seven-under as darkness began to descend over Sanya.

Of the leaders, Liu posted the lowest round as a six-under 66 earned him a share of the lead, while Besseling and Bland posted rounds of 67.

Bland, whose only victory in more than 570 European and Challenge Tour appearances came in the Grand Final back in 2001, is looking to regain the card he lost last year.

The Stoneham GC member, who is currently third on the Road to Mallorca rankings, said: “It was another hot day. I played the back nine, which was our front nine, well and I think I turned in 32.

“I felt like I actually left a couple out there. I played a little scrappy on the back. My short game kept me going, which was nice because you need that,” said Bland, who lost a play-off in the 2002 Irish Open.

“The ninth is just playing like an absolute brute, especially with that back right flag – you’re not getting anywhere near that,” added Bland,

“It was disappointing to make five but I’m not going to lose any sleep over it – not that I’m sleeping at the minute anyway!

“I’ve been coming to China for quite a number of years and flying East for a number of years and I still haven’t worked out how you sleep for those first four or five nights.

“I feel like I sleep great and then I look at the clock and I’ve been asleep for an hour-and-a-half.

“I haven’t been tired on the course or anything like that. I’ve been staying very hydrated. It would be nice to sleep a bit better, but hopefully that will come.

Xiao, Eom and Roussel signed for rounds of 68, while Wirral-based Jordan added a 70 to his opening 67.

Jordan, who would like to join Walker Cup team-mates Scott Gregory and Robert MacIntyre on the main tour, said: “I’ve played well. I started off the first round a bit iffy.

“I saved it a little bit in the first seven holes but from then on, from about the eighth hole yesterday, I played solid. I’ve shown positives on both days, so I’m happy.

“I didn’t think it was that different to yesterday,” added the winer of the Italian Challenge Open Eneos Motor Oil, in June.

“I did battle well actually, yesterday I just got up and down a couple more times,” said 23-year-old Jordan. “Over the two days I’ve been very solid and it doesn’t take much to pick up a shot or drop a shot.

“It’s a great event. It’s great to come to China, I’ve never been here before.

“It’s good to experience different things like the cuisine and course. The course is obviously very good. I haven’t heard one person say anything bad about it. The wind keeps it honest.”

Chinese ace Liu Yanwei said: “I had an early tee time this morning and the wind was low and then became stronger, but it was still better than yesterday.

“I didn’t play badly yesterday with seven birdies, but I got six bogeys and made some mistakes to end with a score of one-under.

“I controlled it a lot better today, with the same number of birdies, but I only bogeyed the 14th hole.”

Twenty-two year old Liu added: “I had an early tee time this morning and the wind was low and then became stronger, but it was still better than yesterday.

“I didn’t play badly yesterday with seven birdies, but I got six bogeys and made some mistakes to end with a score of one-under.

I controlled it a lot better today, with the same number of birdies, but I only bogeyed the 14th hole.

“Over the past two days, the ninth hole has caused trouble for most of us. It is 480 yards long and we had to play against the wind.

The wind direction has been basically the same since Tuesday, but it was a bit different on the seventh and eighth holes today.”

One shot further back is Frenchman Damien Perrier, Chinese duo Bai Zheng-kai and He Shaocai – who posted the low round of the day with a 65 – and Yeh Yu-Chen, from Chinese Taipei, who all share eighth place on six-under.

In total, 63 players survived the halfway cut of one-over par or lower, including the two Chinese amateurs Chen Guxin and Liu Enhua.

•To follow lives scores in the third round of the Hainan Open click here.

The post Nothing Bland about course or food in China as Jordan hits front with six others appeared first on Golf North.

Antoine Rozner fired a seven-under 65 to lead after the first round of China’s Hainan Open on the European Challenge Tour. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

A BOGEY on the final hole denied Antoine Rozner a blemish-free opening round at the European Challenge Tour’s Hainan Open, in China.

But the Frenchman will nevertheless take a commanding two-stroke lead into day two after carding a seven-under par round of 65.

Rozner, who has won twice on the Road to Mallorca this season, made five birdies prior to the turn after starting his quest for a third victory of 2019 on the 10th tee at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club.

Three more gains and that single bogey arrived on the back nine as the rest of the field were able to match one of the tournament’s early starters.

Royal Liverpool’s Matthew Jordan posted a bogey-free 67 to sit in second place, while Frenchman Damien Perrier, Denmark’s Benjamin Poke and late-finisher Josh Geary, from New Zealand were a stroke further back on four-under after opening rounds of 68.

Rozner – winner of the Open de España and Prague Golf Challenge and looking for a third win that would guarantee automatic promotion to the Europrean Tour – acknowledged the quality of his play in China.

But he also admitted to getting a bit of luck along the way. “It was great,” said Rozner, who lies second in the Road to Mallorca rankings, needing a place in the top 15 to earn his full European Tour card for 2020.

“It was just one of those days where I hit a lot of good shots, a lot of good putts and made very few mistakes.

“When I did have a mistake, I got a good bounce and saved par. I got some good reads and it was one of those days where everything just went right.

“I played great and I think if I can keep playing like this for the next three days, I should be in pretty good shape ” added Rozner.

The 26-year-old’s undoubted highlight was a tricky downhill birdie putt from 25 feet on the fourth hole, which he was delighted to convert for a superb up-and-down from the bunker.

“I hit a good drive into the reachable par four and I was in the bunker with an uphill lie,” said Rozner. “It was quite a long bunker shot, so it wasn’t easy and I left it short.

“The putt was really, really fast and I was just looking to put it around the hole, to be honest. It ended up going in, so it was definitely the highlight of the day.”

With temperatures peaking at 33 degrees Celsius in Hainan, Rozner is keeping a keen focus on maintaining his energy levels ahead of the second round.

“I’m not going to waste much energy on the range,” he said. “It’s quite exhausting out there because the wind is swirling and it’s very hot.

“Saving energy is going to be key this week so I’ve got to be careful by staying hydrated and getting some good night’s sleep.”

Kiwi Geary came closest to matching Rozner’s total but two bogeys in his final three holes dropped him back into a tie for third.

That left him one shot clear of eight players on three-under including Zhang Jin and Xiao Bowen, who are currently the leading Chinese players.

The second round will begin at 7.10am local time, with Rozner due on the tee at 12.10pm.

•For live scoring in the Hainan Open click here.

The post Red-hot Rozner in front as Frenchman seeks automatic promotion at Hainan Open appeared first on Golf North.

Emilio Cuartero-Blanco claimed his first European Challenge Tour win after a play-off with Oscar Lengden after the final round of the Stone Irish Challenge was washed out.
Picture by GETTY IMAGES

EMILIO Cuartero-Blanco secured an emotional maiden victory on the European Challenge Tour after defeating Oscar Lengden on the third play-off hole of the Stone Irish Challenge.

The final round of the tournament, which was being played at Headfort Golf Club, was cancelled as heavy rains water-logged the course, rendering it unplayable.

With Cuartero-Blanco and Lengden sharing the 54-hole lead on 11-under, a play-off — held on the par three 17th hole — was required to determine a winner.

Both players carded two-putt pars on the first extra hole, and on the second, both nearly chipped in after missing the green.

The third time around, Cuartero-Blanco holed a birdie putt from 12 feet, and when Lengden’s birdie effort from 10 feet burned the edge, the Spaniard secured his first victory in five seasons on the Challenge Tour.

“I remember the first year I got onto the Challenge Tour five years ago, I thought I was going to win a couple, maybe three and get to the European Tour,” said Cuartero-Blanco.

“Then I got shocked with reality. I’ve been close before, but now, it’s just one of those feelings I can’t describe.

“I just want to go home and hug my loved ones. It’s just a tournament I know, and life goes on, but I’m definitely going to enjoy this one. I don’t know what to say really.”

The victory dramatically alters the course of the season for the 28-year-old, who now moves to 41st on the Road to Mallorca rankings, and gains entry into the limited-field Hainan and Foshan Opens in the Far East.

“This was going to be the last tournament of the year for me,” Cuartero-Blanco said.

“I was 100th on the rankings, and it was one of those years where you battle and the scores don’t go the right way, but you know you’re doing things well.”

The win came so suddenly for Cuartero-Blanco, that he will forgo the Hainan Open in order to obtain the necessary travel visa for the Foshan Open.

In China, he will then try to earn a spot in the season-ending Challenge Tour Grand Final, which is reserved for the top 45 players on the Road to Mallorca.

“I don’t even know how I played this good with all the swing changes I’m doing. I was just trying to play golf and have no back pain, and I ended up winning.

“Maybe it’s because I’m having fun, but I don’t know. I don’t want to think about it too much I just want to enjoy it.

“Now I know I can win. I know it’s not four rounds and all that, but a win is a win.”

Cormac Sharvin, who finished in a tie for fifth on eight-under, collected the Christy O’Connor Jnr Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the low-Irishman at the Stone Irish Challenge.

The Dublin resident moved to fifth on the Road to Mallorca and has joined the race to finish the season as Challenge Tour No. 1.

The Challenge Tour now heads to the Orient for two limited-field events, which begin with the Hainan Open, at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club in Donghai Bay, China, from October 17-20.

•For full results in the Stone Irish Challenge click here.

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