Five Challenge Tour graduates to watch on the DP World Tour in 2025 – Article

The DP World Tour season may be just five events into the new season, but it doesn't take long for the European Challenge Tour's class of 2024 to make an impact.

John Parry secured his first DP World Tour appearance in 14 years at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open after earning automatic promotion to the DP World Tour with his third win of the Challenge Tour season in September. victory.

The Briton, who finished second on the Road to Mallorca last season, has already had two top-10 finishes on his return to the DP World Tour, with his victory ensuring he takes first place in the opening swing rankings.

But he's not the only Challenge Tour graduate to impress at the Battle of Dubai so far.

Three-time champions Rasmus Neergard-Petersen and Robin Williams secured higher exemption categories through their performances on last season's DP World Tour, with 22 players receiving cards following last month's R&A-supported Challenge Tour Finals.

Here, we pick five of the 2024 Challenge Tour graduates to watch on the DP World Tour in 2025.

angel ayola

• age: 20

• Road to Mallorca 2024 ranking: 4

• Official World Golf Ranking (as of December 23): 189

The Spaniard didn't turn pro until the 2023 Eisenhower Trophy, but it didn't take long to get into the paid ranks. After being invited to compete in the 2024 Challenge Tour season, he finished the year ranked fourth, recording a breakthrough career win at the Rosa Challenge Tour and six other top-10s. These included back-to-back runner-up finishes at the Hangzhou Open and Rolex Challenge Tour Finals, and he has continued that momentum into the early stages of the 2025 DP World Tour season. The 20-year-old has two top-10 finishes in his first four starts on the DP World Tour, finishing 10th in the Tour of Dubai rankings and cracking the top 200 in the Official World Golf Rankings. While he may be the youngest graduate of the Challenge Tour class of 2024, his ability appears to be matched by his lofty ambitions in the game.

Hamish Brown

• age: 26

• Road to Mallorca 2024 Ranking: 5

• Official World Golf Ranking (as of December 23): Chapter 231

Golf is in Brown's blood, with his Scottish father Marcus a pro at Aalborg Club in Denmark. He debuted on the Challenge Tour in 2016 at the age of 17, but it wasn't until 2023 that he started playing regularly at this level, finishing 83rd at the end of the season. But in his first full campaign, he was solid. Two titles in the Czech Republic and China combined with just one promotion miss saw him finish fifth in the Road to Mallorca rankings over the course of the season, earning him a spot on the Rookie DP World Tour. After opting to miss the Australian doubles event at the start of the 2025 Dubai Open, he held the 36-hole lead at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, finishing tied for 16th and finishing top of the Alfred Championship. 30th place finish in Dunhill Championship South Africa.

Joel Moscatel

• age: 26

• Road to Mallorca 2024 ranking: 10

• Official World Golf Ranking (as of December 23): Chapter 322

After turning professional in 2020, Moscatel played three seasons on the Alpine Tour, with a best finish of second place, before advancing through the 2023 Qualifying School to gain full Challenge Tour playing privileges. The Spaniard made a slow start to the season before finishing in the top 10 in the UAE and taking his first professional win at the Spanish Challenge. Another top-10 finish in Denmark followed, and just over a month later he repeated the title via play-offs in France. Although he was unable to secure his third annual victory, which would have given him an early promotion to the DP World Tour, he easily Fixed his card. The 26-year-old has since bounced back from defeats in his first two events in Australia, picking up some Dubai Dubai points at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, heading into the game with optimism. New year.

did you know?

Last season, 16 of the 21 Challenge Tour graduates retained their DP World Tour cards, three of them (Mateo Manassero, Jesper Svensson and Frederic Lacru Watts) won the 2024 Race to Dubai. Six of the 2023 Challenge Tour graduates also finished in the top 50 in the Tour of Dubai rankings, while Manassero and Svensson earned dual memberships on the PGA Tour in 2025.

Brandon Robinson Thompson

• age: 32

• Road to Mallorca 2024 ranking: 18

• Official World Golf Ranking (as of December 23): 263

Robinson-Thompson was born in the Isle of Wight and played college golf at the University of South Carolina in Aiken from 2013-16. After turning pro in 2017, he played on several tours, including the PGA Tour Latin America, but it wasn't until 2023 that he really made his breakthrough. He won a tournament on the MENA Tour in Egypt and the Northern Ireland Open on the Clutch Pro Tour. He passed the final qualifying round at Royal Porthcawl and secured a spot in the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, where he finished 59th. A week later he was invited to win the Irish Challenge on the Challenge Tour. Although he narrowly missed out on a chance to get a DP World Tour card at the end of the year, he qualified for the U.S. Open and then finished third in the Irish title defense before winning a second title to really ignite of his journey in 2024. Scottish Challenge Tour Champion. Although he has competed only twice since graduating to the DP World Tour, he showed his potential at this level earlier this year with back-to-back top-20 finishes in the Czech Republic and Denmark.

Martin Kubrera

• age: twenty one

• Road to Mallorca 2024 ranking: No. 17

• Official World Golf Ranking (as of December 23): Chapter 349

In September 2023, Kufra won the Spanish Challenge and became the seventh player in history to win on the Challenge Tour as an amateur. Earlier that year, the Frenchman became the first European to win all three of South Africa's major amateur titles in one season. In his first full season on the Challenge Tour as a pro, he posted seven top-10 finishes and finished 17th in the Road to Mallorca rankings. The latter qualified for the DP World Tour in the Challenge Tour Finals. A top-10 finish at the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek earlier this month showed he has the ability to compete at this level, and he's another rookie looking to adapt quickly to a new course and country.