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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Welshman Rhys Enoch made his breakthrough win on the European Challenge Tour with victory in the D+D REAL Slovakia Challenge, just six weeks before the 31-year-old is due to become a father for the first time. Picture by OTA MRAKOTA

RHYS Enoch ended his long wait for a European Challenge Tour title at the D+D REAL Slovakia Challenge after posting a four-under par 68 on the final day at Penati Golf Resort.

The Welshman carded four consecutive sub-70 rounds to post an 18-under total and secure a one-shot victory over New Zealand’s Josh Geary, who propelled himself into contention on day four with a six-under 66.

The win caps an unforgettable few weeks for the 31-year-old, who showcased his potential to perform on the biggest stage with a spectacular 66 in the second round of the US Open at Pebble Beach last month.

The emotional victory comes just six weeks before the birth of his first child – and just over 10 years since the tragic death of his younger brother who had been tipped for top in golf as a teenager.

Enoch started the day two shots behind overnight leader Darius van Driel but soon took control with four birdies over the opening nine holes and despite bad weather forcing a short delay late in his round, he held on to secure his first Challenge Tour title.

‘’This has been a long time coming,’’ he said. ‘’There are so many emotions right now. I’m obviously just so happy, relieved and just excited about what this can mean going forward.

“To put yourself in these positions and not get it done, you wonder if you’re ever going to get over the finish line, but it just feels so great to have finally got the win.

‘’Everyone at home is behind me and wants me to see me do well, so it is exciting for me – but also for all my family.

“If you’d have told me at the start of June what the next month or so would bring, I would have been absolutely over the moon with that.

“I’ve got a baby boy being born in six weeks, so life is about to change and I’m going to need to balance my golf and travel.

“But I’m just really excited for what the future can bring,” said Enoch, who was playing on South Africa’s Sunshine Tour last year.

In 2009, Rhys’ younger brother Ben was killed in a car crash while on his way to take part in the Lytham Trophy at Royal Lytham. Both brothers were in the Walker Cup squad to face the USA that year at Merion.

When Rhys qualified for The Open at Carnoustie last year, he paid tribute to Ben after making the cut in his second attempt, having also qualified at Hoylake in 2014.

Rhys, who has Ben’s nickname ‘Been’ tattoed on his chest, said after playing his third round with Masters champion Patrick Reed: “Today was my reward for persistence.

“With everything that has happened in my life, when you come to an occasion like this then the memories and thoughts do creep in and come back to you. But this is what I’ve worked for since I was 12 so this is all about hard work.”

In Slovakia, overnight leader van Driel opened with two consecutive birdies but was unable to replicate the form that had seen him occupy top spot over each of the first three rounds.

He eventually signed for a four-over par round of 76 to finish in a tie for eighth.

Frenchman Antoine Rozner continues to top the Challenge Tour rankings despite missing the cut in Slovakia, with Enoch moving up 61 places into seventh position.

The Challenge Tour now visits France for the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge from July 11-14.

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