European Challenge Tour alumni occupied all but one of the top ten and tied places at the 2020 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, as 2011 graduate Jorge Campillo captured his second European Tour title at Education City Golf Club.
The Spaniard came through a thrilling five-hole play-off with David Drysdale to clinch his second European Tour title following his breakthrough win at the Trophée Hassan II and secure the 481st win for a former Challenge Tour player on the European Tour.
With the pair tied at the top of the leaderboard following the completion of regulation play, the two former Challenge Tour players produced one of the most thrilling play-offs in recent European Tour history, with Campillo holing three birdie putts beyond 20 foot to hold off the in-form Scotsman.
There was a common trend among the top ten and ties in Qatar, with South African George Coetzee, who finished second at the co-sanctioned Dimension Data Pro-Am last month, the only player not to have previously plied his trade on the Challenge Tour.
Swedes Niklas Lemke, Alexander Björk and Marcus Kinhult, Finn Kalle Samooja and Denmark’s Jeff Winther added plenty of Scandinavian flavour to the top of the leaderboard, while fellow former Challenge Tour player Nino Bertasio, from Italy, secured his first top ten finish of the season.
Rounding out an outstanding week for Challenge Tour alumni was Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal who continued his flying start to the season, which included victory at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, with a tie for seventh place.
Meanwhile, Class of 2019 member Jack Senior continued the impressive start to his maiden European Tour season, notching his second consecutive top 20 finish at Education City. The Englishman started his rookie year with a top five result at the South African Open hosted by the City of Johannesburg and has continued in that vein as he carves out his path on Europe’s top tier. He currently sits in 38th position on the Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex.
There was also reason to celebrate on the other side of the pond, with Class of 2013 graduate Tyrrell Hatton fending off a world-class field to seal his first PGA Tour title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Playing in only his second event since undergoing wrist surgery last season, the Englishman tamed a devilishly difficult Bay Hill and tough weather conditions to finish one shot clear of Australian Marc Leishman and put himself firmly in the running for a spot in Europe’s Ryder Cup team at Whistling Straits later this year.
