Sean Crocker became the 200th former European Challenge Tour player to win on the DP World Tour when he held off another Challenge Tour alumnus Eddie Pepperell to secure a wire-to-wire victory at the Hero Open. The American’s first DP World Tour victory took the total number of wins by Challenge Tour alumni to 531.
Crocker graduated from the Challenge Tour in 2018 after finishing 12th on the Rankings to earn his DP World Tour playing rights. The 25-year-old went on to impress in his maiden DP World Tour season recording three top ten finishes, including a tie for second at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco.
Adrian Meronk became the 199th former Challenge Tour player to win on the DP World Tour when he made history by becoming the first player from Poland to win on the DP World Tour after securing victory at the Horizon Irish Open.
Meronk became the first Polish player to earn full DP World Tour playing rights when he graduated from the Challenge Tour in 2019, a season in which he became the first player from Poland to win on a major golf tour with his triumph at the Open de Portugal @ Morgado Golf Resort in 2019.
Since its inception in 1987, the Challenge Tour has developed into a proven breeding ground for the next generation of golfing superstars and has produced eight Major Champions including this year’s U.S. Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick.
Matt Fitzpatrick played nine Challenge Tour events in 2014, recording four top ten finishes, before securing his DP World Tour card through Qualifying School later that year. The Englishman has gone on to win eight DP World Tour events and make two Ryder Cup appearances.
Fitzpatrick won his first Major Championship at the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club, Brookline, nine years after winning the U.S. Amateur Championship at the same venue, becoming just the second golfer next to Jack Nicklaus to win the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur on the same golf course.
Tommy Fleetwood topped the Challenge Tour Rankings in 2011, becoming the youngest winner of the Rankings in the Tour’s history at just 20-years-old. The Englishman has gone on to make two Ryder Cup appearances and win five events at the top level, including two Rolex Series titles. Fleetwood was also crowned DP World Tour Number One in 2017 after recording ten top ten finishes that year.
