[PHOTO: Octavio Passos]
The entire year. Twenty-seven events played. So many golf shots. It came down to the last hole to determine Jamie Rutherford’s status for 2025.
The 32-year-old from England had collected seven top-10 finishes on the European Challenge Tour season and was in the hunt for one of the 22 DP World Tour cards handed out at the end of the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final at Club de Golf Alcanda in Mallorca, Spain.
Rutherford opened with 72-71 and then started to move up the leaderboard after a third-round 69. He caught fire during the final round overnight (Australian time) and made eight birdies in the first 16 holes. However, a bogey on the par-3 17th hole showed that he needed a birdie on the final hole – the 72nd of the tournament and the last of the entire season – to sneak into the top 22 on the tour’s Road to Mallorca standings.
Here’s what happened:
https://twitter.com/Challenge_Tour/status/1853051533400678460
Granted, it’s quite a long attempt from the fringe, and one you wouldn’t necessarily expect to make. It’s just the violent nature of the lip-out that makes it so much worse.
Rutherford shot a final-round 66 to tie for 19th place in the tournament, 13 shots behind winner Kristoffer Reitan. He ended… 23rd in the Road to Mallorca standings. Again, the top 22 earned full status on the DP World Tour for next year. Ouch.
Rutherford played on the DP World Tour in 2017 but was back on the Challenge Tour a year later and has remained there since.
Norway’s Reitan topped Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Angel Ayora by one shot at the top of the leaderboard. It was Reitan’s first Challenge Tour title and he climbed 29 spots in the season rankings to earn a DP World Tour card. He started the day three shots off the pace but started with eagle-birdie to jump into the lead.
“I’m super-happy, but it has not sunk in yet whatsoever,” Reitan said. “It’s probably going to take a few hours or maybe a few days. It’s really nice to be able to play well when it really mattered. I never thought this would be a possibility even a few months ago.”
Neergaard-Petersen ended the season at the top of the standings. Englishman John Parry, a three-time winner this season, ends the year second, with Finn Oliver Lindell graduating in third after ending the year with eight consecutive top-10 finishes.
Hayden Hopewell in 45th was the highest-placed Australian for the season on the Challenge Tour.
Final Road to Mallorca standings
1: Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
2: John Parry
3: Oliver Lindell
4: Angel Ayora
5: Hamish Brown
6: Conor Purcell
7: Kristoffer Reitan
8: Joakim Lagergren
9: Jack Senior
10: Joel Moscatel
11: Mikael Lingberg
12: Alexander Levy
13: Benjamin Hebert
14: Robin Williams
15: Deon Germishuys
16: Bjorn Akesson
17: Martin Couvra
18: Brandon Robinson Thompson
19: Tapio Pulkkanen
20: Pierre Pineau
21: Nicolai Von Dellingshausen
22: Lucas Bjerregaard
