This week, the Road to Mallorca heads to Hainan Island for the first of back-to-back events in China at the Hainan Open, marking the start of the Final Swing. Although this is the eighth edition, the 2026 Hainan Open marks the tenth anniversary since the event was played for the first time in 2016. Here’s all you need to know ahead of round one…
Familiar Venue
Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club has hosted the Hainan Open for the last two years on the HotelPlanner Tour and this year is no different, as we return once again to China’s southernmost city, Sanya. With a tropical climate and attractive surroundings, the city is a popular tourist destination, and one that is increasingly popular among the Tour’s members. The area offers excellent views of the mountains surrounding the city as well as the South China Sea.
The course itself is a 7,184-yard par-72 layout that lends itself to low scoring. The winning number has been between 14 under and 19 under par in every playing of the event here except for the inaugural edition, where Alexander Knappe was victorious with a score of nine under par due to severe rainfall reducing the event to two rounds. Provided there are no such weather troubles this year, a low total can be expected this week.
Past Winners
It is almost certain that whoever wins the 2026 Hainan Open will go on to graduate to the DP World Tour considering every winner of the event so far has gone on to graduate in the same year. The increase from 2,000 available R2M points to 2,750 admittedly plays a role in this, but still suggests the cream of the crop come to the fore on Hainan island. Following Knappe doing winning and graduating in 2016, South African Erik Van Rooyen (2017) and Finn Kalle Samooja (2018) went on to follow in the German’s footsteps, with each then going one step further by securing maiden wins on Golf’s Global Tour.
Following Francesco Laporta’s success in 2019, the Hainan Open had a three-year stint off the schedule, but the graduating trend didn’t stop. It was Ricardo Gouveia who won upon the event’s return to the schedule in 2023, before current Road to Mallorca number seven Hamish Brown won in 2024 via a play-off. Extra holes were again required in 2025 as Renato Paratore prevailed over fellow ’25 graduate Maximilian Steinlechner – indeed, six of last year’s top ten went on to graduate, showing the tournament’s pedigree for finding future stars. It will be the hope of this week’s winner to follow this pathway as well as taking home the Lion’s share of the increased prize fund of US$500,000.
The top 68
With the Hainan and Hangzhou Opens being co-sanctioned with the China Tour, it means that only the top 68 available players in the Road to Mallorca Rankings will compete at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club. With Rory Franssen and Saptak Talwar opting not to tee it up in Hainan, this means it was 70th ranked Callum Farr who secured the final spot in the field thanks to his 21st place finish in last week’s Abu Dhabi Challenge, and the chance to push for the top 45 that earn a spot in the Grand Final. The rest of the field will be filled by members of the China Tour, with the split field highlighting the excellent relationship between the HotelPlanner Tour and the China Golf Association. Those competing from the China Golf Tour know that they can earn valuable points for their own ranking system this week in Hainan, with the Order of Merit winner earning a spot on the DP World Tour for the 2027 season and the runner up earning status on the HotelPlanner Tour next term.
It was last week’s maiden winner Liam Nolan who made the biggest move in the season-long Rankings, climbing 31 spots to 13th position, whilst runner up Tapio Pulkkanen cemented his top 15 presence further as he bids for a return to the DP World Tour, moving up seven spots to sixth. But eyes this week will be focused on other important cut off positions, including the top 45, who are challenging for a place at the Grand Final, and the top 15 who secure DP World Tour status for 2027.
