Muscat: All eyes turn to Muscat this weekend as the European Challenge Tour’s Road to Oman enters its final stage at the season-ending NBO Golf Classic Grand Final from November 1-4.
The €420,000 (Dh1.7 million) event marks the end of another season where the top 45 players in the rankings jostle for a place in the top 15 and promotion to next year’s European Tour.
After his dramatic victory in Ras Al Khaimah, Denmark’s Jens Dantorp climbed from 48th to 13th in the rankings and now has a very realistic chance of reaching European golf’s top tier next season.
“This win will surely spur me to keep going and perform well,” said Dantorp. “I love Muscat and I am aiming to enjoy myself there, and I look forward for another great week to get that elusive European Tour card.”
Runner-up Adrian Meronk of Poland may have missed out in a play-off to Dantorp but he will be happy with his progress as he jumped from 79th to 33rd to book his place in the Muscat year-ender.
“I’m slightly disappointed not to win in Ras Al Khaimah as I was so close, but I have to look at the positives as I have booked my place at the Grand Final,” said Meronk. “Now I still have a chance to get promoted to the European Tour and I’m more than ready for the Road to Oman climax.”
Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen remains top of the rankings after winning the Kazakhstan Open and finished second in three events in Turkey, the Czech Republic and China. He has amassed a total 177,724 points and will be looking to finish is style before embarking on a new adventure in next year’s European Tour.
France’s Julien Guerrier and England’s Aaron Rai are on Pulkkanen’s tail and both lie just a little over 40,000 points adrift meaning a decent showing in Muscat could see one of them nick the Road to Oman title.
Nick Tarratt, director of the European Tour’s Dubai Office, said: “It was wonderful to see such an exciting finish to the Ras Al Khaimah Golf Challenge where the two players involved secured their spots in the season-ending grand finale in Oman.
“They now have the chance to follow in the footsteps of the likes of WGC-HSBC Champions winner Justin Rose, 2016 Race to Dubai champion Henrik Stenson and 2016 Ras Al Khaimah Golf Challenge and Road to Oman champion Jordan Smith who all started their careers on the Challenge Tour before going on to achieve great things on the European Tour.”
Muscat will be the ultimate destination and the final event of the 2017 Road to Oman which has taken in 26 tournaments in 20 countries and come Saturday, 15 players will be rejoicing after grasping European Tour cards.
