Liam Nolan may have finished third at the SDC Open but he leads the Road to Mallorca Rankings on the HotelPlanner Tour (formerly Challenge Tour).
Nolan was just one shot shy of the two-man playoff between eventual winner Daniel Van Tonder and Altin Van Der Merwe at Zebula Golf Estate but it’s the Galway man who collects the 140 Road to Mallorca points available ahead of the two South African players.
Neither Van Tonder or Van Der Merwe have taken up membership of the HotelPlanner Tour so they are not yet eligible to earn points for the season long order of merit meaning Nolan leads the way after the opening week.
The 24-year-old also pocketed a healthy paycheque of just over €25,000 (€25,063.68) for his excellent effort as he took advantage of his invite into the event.
Nolan has a weak A3 category on Europe’s second tier with a full Alps Tour card to beef out his season but more weeks like this could make it a more fruitful maiden full campaign as a professional.
The former Walker Cup star is no stranger to life in South Africa having been part of the annual Golf Ireland squad trip to the country in 2022, he finished in 8th place at the African Amateur Strokeplay that year so he is capable of performing well in the searing heat.
Nolan is back in action next week on the HotelPlanner Tour at the My Golf Life Open and the former NUIG student is thrilled to see some of the hard work he put in during the winter come to fruition early in the season.
“It’s amazing it verifies a lot of what I was working on over the winter both technically and mentally it has paid off with a really good performance so looking forward to seeing what the rest of the year holds especially with the trips here in South Africa.”
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