The European Challenge Tour, which has helped produce many of the reigning superstars of the game, is now in the region for its most important fortnight.
The Challenge Tour is tagged ‘Where Heroes are Made’, and it’s easy to understand why some of the biggest names in the European Tour have graduated through it.
This year, seven of the top-10 players in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai – Henrik Stenson, Jamie Donaldson, Thomas Bjorn, Martin Kaymer, Justin Rose, Juist Luiten and Mikko Ilonen – have all come through the Challenge Tour.
Alain De Soultrait, director, European Challenge Tour, said: “When the Challenge Tour began in 1989, it was to give young professionals a series of events to hone their craft and find their feet in the paid ranks, with a view to eventually graduate to the European Tour.
“Since that first year, there have been countless examples of promising players making the step up. Henrik Stenson is a great recent example.
"He was the first man to win both the Race to Dubai and the FedEx Cup in 2013 and in the process, he also become the first player to have topped both the European Tour Order of Merit and the Challenge Tour Rankings, which he achieved in 2000.”
The tour is in Muscat, Oman, this week for the National Bank of Oman Classic, and will then move to the UAE for the Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final at Al Badia Golf Club.
After Oman, only the top-45 players in the Ranking make it to the grand finale, and the top-15 at the end of the week earn their dream card to the European Tour.
This year, both Oman and Dubai events are part of Challenge Tour’s Final Swings – a series of four events offering more money and World Ranking points.
It started with Shankhai China Classic, which was won by Johan Edfors, followed by the Foshan Open, which was won by Jason Palmer.
