The Road to Mallorca lands in Germany this week for the fifth edition of the German Challenge powered by VcG. Here are three players to look out for…
Form horse: Maximilian Steinlechner
Maximilian Steinlechner arrives in Germany as the new Road to Mallorca Number One having enjoyed a career-changing two weeks in Europe. A maiden HotelPlanner Tour title came on home soil, in the Interwetten Open in Austria two weeks ago, before he followed that up with a tied second finish last week in the Czech Republic. The last two weeks continue Steinlechner’s impressive start to the campaign, having recorded back-to-back top fives to kick-start his season back in March. He becomes just the third player to hit the summit of the Rankings this season, following in the footsteps of two-time winners this term, Danial van Tonder from South Africa and Italian Renato Paratore.
Local boy: Tiger Christensen
Tiger Christensen earned full playing privileges on the HotelPlanner Tour for 2025 after making the 72-hole cut at 2024 DP World Tour Qualifying School, doing so as an amateur. The German would make the switch to the professional ranks shortly after and is a name to follow over the coming years after enjoying a stellar amateur career. He tees it up on home soil this week fresh from his best finish of the season so far with four under par rounds of 66-65-67-65 seeing him finish tied 12th in the D+D Real Czech Challenge last time out. The 21-year-old will be looking to build on that when play gets under way on Thursday.
The outsider: Santiago Tarrio
Santiago Tarrio is no stranger to Wittelsbacher Golfclub having teed it up in the inaugural edition of the German Challenge back in 2021. On that occasion, the Spaniard fired an eight under par round of 63 on Sunday to finished tied second, two shots off the lead. This week sees Tarrio return to the course for the first time since, having plied his trade on the DP World Tour for three seasons since. There’s also a history of Spanish success on the tree-lined challenge in Neuburg an der Donau, with Tarrio’s countrymen Angel Hidalgo and Alejandro del Rey winning the event back in 2021 and 2022 respectively.