Former European Challenge Tour stars continued to make inroads on the European Tour this year, as a combination of experienced and new faces picked up silverware.
One four-time winner, a Major Champion and an Olympic gold medallist all once plied their trade on Europe’s top developmental tour, as a total of 15 Challenge Tour alumni won 21 titles during 2016.
After finishing in the top 15 on the 2015 Road to Oman, Brandon Stone made the perfect start to his European Tour career this year.
The South African triumphed on home soil at the BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni in January, kicking off an impressive breakthrough season – he finished 50thin the 2016 Race to Dubai after five further top ten finishes.
One would be forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu this month, as Stone was victorious again in his native South Africa – a dominant display at the Alfred Dunhill Championship meant the 23 year old bookended the year with trophies.
Joining Stone as the only other 2015 Challenge Tour player to win on the 2016 Race Dubai was Haydn Porteous.
After narrowly missing out on a place in the top 15 on the 2015 Road to Oman, the 22 year old’s Joburg Open victory gave him a two-year exemption, meaning the young South African secured his European Tour status in just his third start of the season.
Other first-time winners on the European Tour in 2016 were 2014 Rankings winner Andrew Johnston and 2013 graduate Tyrrell Hatton.
While Johnston tamed a fiendishly difficult Valderrama to triumph in Spain in April, and impressed at The 145thOpen Championship, his fellow countryman Hatton announced himself as a world-class competitor with a stunning campaign.
After claiming second at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, the 25 year old would finish tied fifth at The Open Championship a week later – before reaching the top ten once again in his next event, the US PGA Championship.
The Englishman would not have to wait long for his maiden win either, playing some extraordinary golf to blow away the rest of the field at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October.
Although he narrowly lost out to Matthew Fitzpatrick at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, Hatton finished a fantastic year in fourth place in the final Race to Dubai Rankings.
While still only 22 years old, former Challenge Tour player Fitzpatrick won his second and third European Tour titles in 2016. Ryder Cup team mate Thomas Pieters, who played six events on Challenge Tour in 2013, also became a three-time European Tour winner at the Made in Denmark in August.
Three also proved to be a magic number for France’s Alexander Levy, who claimed a hat-trick of European Tour wins by beating Ross Fisher in a play-off at the Porsche European Open.
Former Challenge Tour winners Marcus Fraser, Joost Luiten and Thorbjørn Olesen all also added to their trophy cabinets, while 2003 Challenge Tour player Louis Oosthuizen and fellow South African Branden Grace won their eighth and seventh European Tour titles respectively this year.
Most of the plaudits for European players in 2016 will rightly go to three former Challenge Tour stars: Justin Rose, Alex Noren and Henrik Stenson.
While representing their countries at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, regular Ryder Cup partners Rose and Stenson went toe to toe for the gold medal, with Great Britain’s Rose coming out on top after a fiercely competitive final day in Brazil.
For Sweden’s Stenson, the 2000 Challenge Tour Rankings winner, an Olympic silver medal would be one of many highlights during a spectacular season.
After winning the BMW International Open for the second time in June, the 40 year old produced one of the most thrilling final rounds in Open Championship history, shooting an eight under par 63 at Royal Troon to become the first Scandinavian male to win a Major.
Stenson’s fellow Swede Noren also had an outstanding 2016. Finishing 2015 at 96thin the Official World Golf Ranking, the 34 year old would hardly have conceived he would end the year as one of the top ten golfers on the planet.
Noren, a Challenge Tour champion in 2006, won in Scotland, Switzerland, England and South Africa over the space of four months, confirming his position as one of the game’s elite.
