Copyright scotsman
Golf can be a cruel game at times. Just ask Euan Walker. Three years in a row, the Scot has teed up at Club de Golf Alcanada in Port d’Alcudia hoping he’d been saying “sí” in terms of being a DP World Tour card holder at the end of the Challenge Tour season only for the answer to be “no” on each occasion. In the battle for 20 coveted cards on the main tour, he’s finished 24th, 26th and 25th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings and, quite frankly, if there is indeed a Golfing god, it’s about time he gives Walker the break he deserves in his bid to achieve a “lifetime ambition”. The 30-year-old is back at the same venue to try again this week and he’ll be hoping a couple of differences as far as the €500,000 event is concerned from previous years can produce a change of luck. For starters, the Challenge Tour is now called the HotelPlanner Tour, having been renamed at the start of this season through a deal with the US-based travel technology company. Even more significant, though, is the fact he’s starting the season finale in a card-winning position for the first time. “It is great,” Walker, smiling, told The Scotsman on Wednesday of sitting 17th on the points list instead of being on the outside looking in. “I’ve got more of a headstart this year than I have ever had.” On the back of a productive spell in terms of Scots graduating from the second-tier circuit, the last three seasons all ended without a Saltire in the card zone. It’s been timely, therefore, that it’s been mission accomplished for both David Law and Daniel Young already - they sit third and eighth respectively on the points list - and Walker will be giving his all over the next four days to be joining his compatriots in the celebratory group shot on Sunday night. “It would be the realisation of a lifetime ambition to make it to the DP World Tour,” admitted the player who represented Kilmarnock (Barassie) during his amateur career and now flies the flag for neighbouring Dundonald Links in the paid ranks. “I think it would be monumental to qualify for the DP World Tour through this tour. I think there are a lot of people who do it but don’t realise what a big achievement it is actually. But I would certainly realise how big it was!” A total of 35 players who competed on this circuit have gone on to play in the Ryder Cup, including six - Matthew Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Rasmus Hojgaard and Bob MacIntyre - being on the team that retained the trophy under Luke Donald’s second successful captaincy at Bethpage Black in New York last month. Marco Penge, who topped the Road to Mallorca Rankings two years ago after signing his season off in style by winning this event, is currently Rory McIlroy’s closest challenger in this year’s Race to Dubai while nine of the 20 players who won DP World Tour cards 12 months ago are in the top 50 on that list. “More and more, I think the standard on this tour is really high,” observed Walker, a two-time winner on the circuit. “A lot of guys out here have come back down from the DP World Tour along with guys who are winning straight away when they go up. Everybody is a good player out here. There is potential for every single player here to have a great week or great few weeks to finish in the top 20 then get off to a flyer next year.” On the back of winning three times, South African JC Ritchie is out in front in this year’s battle to be No 1, with Italian Renato Paratote, another three-time victor, also among the 11 players who are believed to be safe in terms of securing a card. With the likes of David Horsey, James Morrison and Adri Arnaus also in the field this week and all 45 players being in with a chance of making the step up on Sunday night, Walker’s task will be far from easy. “Like everyone else this week, the first goal is to go out and play well and hopefully I can finish in the top 20 on Sunday night,” he said, sitting in the sunshine on the clubhouse terrace and coming across very relaxed indeed. “My game has been good this year. I’ve been better than ever, in fact. My scoring average has been slightly lower this year. So, overall, I have been slightly better and improving year on year and that’s a positive. “I have certainly got plenty of experience playing this course - I know where I am going out there (smiling). It’s very similar to the last three years. Almost identical, in fact, as there doesn’t appear to be any changes.” This will be Walker’s 26th event of the year, having played in 25 out of the 29 on the HotelPlanner Tour schedule and also the Nexo Championship on Scottish soil on the DP World Tour. “More than I’ve ever played before,” he pointed out. With the likes of Jovan Rebula, the South African who won the Amateur Championship at Royal Aberdeen in 2018, breathing down his neck, it will be another pressure-packed week for Walker and his parents, Rhona and Eric, but, boy, would it be warmly welcomed if this is indeed his year. “I get loads of messages, not just this week but throughout the season,” revealed Walker with a smile. “Yeah, it is nice that everybody is supporting me - and I am trying my best.” Two Scots stepping up is great but three would be better and even better, of course, if Calum Fyfe, the fourth player flying the Saltire, could climb into the top 20 from a starting spot of 26th on the back of his best campaign so far.
