The 2025 Road to Mallorca will see 29 tournaments staged across three continents in 18 different countries, with the SDC Open at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa kick-starting proceedings in South Africa from January 23-26.
Kit Alexander has been part of the commentary team for the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A for the last three years live on Sky Sports, and after successfully predicting the Road to Mallorca Number One last year, he’s back to give his thoughts and predictions ahead of another action-packed campaign.
The Road to Mallorca schedule was announced in December and boasts a record prize fund of €9,000,000, with Alexander impressed by the schedule and excited to see what’s to come from those teeing it up.
“It’s another really strong schedule,” he said. “I think this year it’s a case of if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. There are lots of similarities to last year and it worked well, with events in South Africa, India, and the UAE when the weather isn’t great in Europe.
“Then coming back to Europe for the bulk of the season, before a strong finish with the two bigger money, bigger point events in China, and of course, Mallorca delivers amazing drama every year for the final event.
“It’s testament to the schedule that the players rising to the top are then adapting well when they make the step up to the DP World Tour.”
The Challenge Tour continues to be a proven breeding ground for the next generation of golfing superstars, where Major winners including Brooks Koepka, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose and Ryder Cup stars such as Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Nicolai Højgaard and Robert MacIntyre all began their journey.
In 2024, there were several new faces that shone, and having watched first-hand the drama of the season-ending Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final in Mallorca at the end of last year, Alexander continues to be impressed by the quality on display.
“Last year Kristoffer Reitan won it, which was a brilliant redemption story, but it was the two guys that he just edged out that I think are ones to watch.
“It’s easy to call them superstars of the future when you talk about Challenge Tour players but I think that actually they’re superstars of now. In Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Angel Ayora, you have Neergaard-Petersen who has just played in the Team Cup in Abu Dhabi this weekend and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him make a good run at the Ryder Cup team this year.
“Ayora is still a teenager. A great Spanish player, he looked fantastic in Mallorca and just missed out on winning it. He’s one with a massive future.
“I think the cream rose to the top in the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final and we were fortunate to get to see a lot of the guys that are the best players stepping up from the Challenge Tour to the DP World Tour for 2025 in and around the lead and in contention. It delivered brilliant drama as always.”
Alexander has predicted a big year for some of the young up-and-coming stars on the Challenge Tour this season but recognises that historically experience plays a huge part across a long season, as is evident in his picks for the 2025 Road to Mallorca…
Kit’s picks
You can follow Kit on social media: @KitOnTheCourse (X), @kitonthecourse (Instagram)
Road to Mallorca Number One: Adri Arnaus
“I’m going to go with Adri Arnaus. I was between two players here and actually the person that was my first instinct, I’m not going with, but I’ll talk about him later.
“Adri had a bit of a strange dip in form last year because he’d been in the top half of the Race to Dubai ever since his promotion from the Challenge Tour back in 2018 where he finished second. He’s been a stalwart on the Race to Dubai ever since, finishing 41st, 39th, 33rd and 25th from 2019 to 2022 on the Race to Dubai, before finishing 83rd in 2023 and that blip last year to 129th.
“He’s probably going to get some starts on the DP World Tour this year, but I think we will see him quite a bit. He’s long, he’s a great player, and there are similar vibes to Alexander Levy and Joakim Lagergren last year where you were surprised to see them dropping back. They both committed to the Challenge Tour and they got the rewards for that from playing a full season. If Arnaus can focus on the Challenge Tour despite the fact he’ll get a few invites into DP World Tour events, he’ll be tough to beat.”
Dark horse: Lukas Nemecz
“Lukas Nemecz is the one I’m going for here. He finished tenth on the Road to Mallorca in 2021 courtesy of a trio of runner-up finishes and finished inside the top 110 on the DP World Tour the two seasons after that. This year he’s back on the Challenge Tour after finishing 135th on last year’s Race to Dubai Rankings.
“He had a really promising end to last year though, making the most of a couple of DP World Tour starts in Australia in December with tied 8th and tied 15th place finishes. He’ll be plying his trade primarily on the Challenge Tour during 2025 and the 35-year-old’s experience in getting promoted previously, coupled with some encouraging performances in recent years, could see him bounce straight back.”
Promising ones: Albin Bergström and Tiger Christensen
“I’m going to throw two names in here, with the first being Albin Bergström. He’s come from the Nordic Golf League, where last year his results were a bit ridiculous - one win, nine top four finishes, and a handful of other top tens. He was always there.
“Just the one win and he was in contention to win a lot, so the only question mark I have on him is that he maybe should’ve won more. I like the consistency though over someone who maybe flashes a couple of times. With that level of consistency, it shows that there isn’t much of a drop off when he’s not as his best.
“The second to look out for is Tiger Christensen. Named Tiger, so he’s always going to attract certain headlines, he got his card at Qualifying School by making the four round cut but didn’t quite do enough to get a full DP World Tour card.
“He’s in his early 20s and has a lot of experience playing college golf in America, firstly at Oklahoma State and then when he transferred to Arizona. He’s early in his career but I’m excited to see what he can bring to the Challenge Tour.”
Four more picks for promotion
“Nick Bachem is the other player I was tossing and turning about for the Number One spot. I just think his ceiling is so high. He was 59th on the DP World Tour in 2023 including the win in the Jonsson Workwear Open in South Africa. He actually has a really good record in South Africa on the DP World Tour, with some of his best results coming there, and the fact the Challenge Tour season starts in South Africa lends to him making a nice start.
“I’m going to go for Freddy Schott as well, as he’s another almost caught a little bit between the Challenge Tour and the DP World Tour. He just lost out on keeping his card last year, so he might get some starts on the DP World Tour but again, he’s another good player. I just think he’s class. He’s shown it in glimpses and maybe just dropping back to the Challenge Tour is what he needs.
“Matthew Southgate is the next I’m going for. It’s always tempting on the Challenge Tour to go with the new young guns, but at least half of the guys that get promoted every year are ones that are more experienced, and Southgate is that. A really good player, we know what he can do. He’s been on the DP World Tour for years and has some experience on the Challenge Tour before so knows what it’s all about. I think if he just gets his head down, he should have the class to get back up.
“My last pick is going to be Jacob Skov Olesen although I think he’ll be splitting his season between the two tours. He finished second on the Global Amateur Pathway Rankings last year, impressed at Qualifying School and also won the Amateur Championship. In his starts so far, he seems to have made the transition to the pro game really well.”
