Catlin goes close and finishes fourth, narrowly missing out on card for next season
France’ s Julien Sale [main picture] completed an outstanding season on the HotelPlanner Tour by winning its Grand Final today in Spain – to also secure his DP World Tour card for next year.
The reigning Philippine Open champion and Asian Tour member shot a final round seven-under-par 65 at Club de Golf Alcanada, in Mallorca, for a fine four-shot victory over Denmark’s Hamish Brown.
It meant Sale finished in second place on the final Road to Mallorca rankings, with Brown claiming first place.
The top 15 secured DP World Tour cards for next season.
John Catlin made a valiant attempt to snatch one of those but his fourth place finish in Mallorca saw him fall just short as he ended 19th on the rankings. The American flew to the event immediately after winning the Link Hong Kong Open last weekend and needed to finish a few places higher today to win a card.
Today’s victory was Sale’s second of the season on the HotelPlanner Tour – which is the DP World Tour’s secondary circuit – as he claimed the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in July.
“It feels great,” said Sale – who led the Grand Final after the second and third rounds.
“It was a tough day today as there was a lot of pressure and I knew there were a few guys behind me who are gonna play well and try and catch me. But I am really happy with how I played. The putter was really hot, I made a few putts. It is a lot of positives for next year.”
Germany’s Dom Foos also made it into this week’s event, which is for the top-45 from the rankings. The German, who claimed last year’s SJM Macao Open and also won a title on the HotelPlanner Tour this year, at the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge, ended in equal 39th place to finish the season 35th on the rankings.
Two cards for the HotelPlanner Tour will be up for grabs at the Philippine Open presented by Philippine Sports Commission, the final event of the season on the Asian Tour, in two weeks.
While the leading player on Asian Tour Order of Merit will earn a full card for the DP World Tour next year the next two leading available players will win HotelPlanner Tour cards.
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