Having made the cut with just a shot to spare, Dermot McElroy caught fire on Saturday and continued his hot hand in Sunday’s final round to claim a share of third at the HotelPlanner Tour’s Challenge de Cadiz.
The Ballymena man has struggled for consistency in 2025, but the result does wonders for his Road to Mallorca rankings as he climbs 131 places to 47th and breathes fresh life into his quest to qualify for the season-ending HotelPlanner tour finals.
After three opening pars, he opened his birdie account on the fourth and immediately followed with another on five to move to -2 on the day, but a bogey on the sixth halted his momentum.
Another birdie on nine was an ideal finish to the front nine, and he continued riding the crest of the wave into the back nine, reeling off a further three-in-a-row from the 10th to move to -5 for the day and -11 overall and with the leaders in his sights.
Further birdies eluded him, however, and he parred his way home to secure his highest placing since the Rosa Challenge last September.
Max Kennedy, the only other Irishman to make the cut, carded a closing three-under 69 that included an eagle, three birdies and two bogeys to climb into a share of 14th, which is also his best result in his maiden HotelPlanner campaign.
At the end of the day, it was Rocco Repetto Taylor who delighted the home crowd by securing his first HotelPlanner Tour title on just his second appearance with a one-shot victory.
The Spaniard posted a four-under-par final round of 68 to finish on 13-under par at Iberostar Real Golf Novo Sancti Petri, one ahead of overnight leader Victor Pastor.
Repetto Taylor, who entered the fourth round two shots back, made two bogeys and an eagle in his opening three holes before a birdie on the eighth saw him make the turn at one under for the day.
The 22-year-old bogeyed the tenth but bounced back brilliantly with four birdies, before holing a fantastic 20-foot putt on the last to save par and secure victory in Cadiz.
“It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, it’s an unbelievable feeling,” he said. “I was just trying to give myself a chance coming down the stretch and I managed to hit some amazing shots.
“I was nervous on the first tee, and I had a rocky start with a couple of bogeys. The putter started to warm up as the day went on and on the back nine everything started to drop. I’m very happy.
“I live about two hours from here and it’s so cool to have all of my friends and family with me this week. My girlfriend is here and I haven’t seen her for about five months so that was a real game-changer.”
Repetto Taylor had received an invite to the Challenge de Cadiz but has now secured his playing rights for next week’s Swiss Challenge and beyond, and he believes the victory will be life-changing.
“I have been playing on the Alps Tour and I was focused on that for the rest of the season, so this win has changed everything for me,” he said. “I have to talk to my coach and my parents and figure out where we go from here. This is just my second HotelPlanner Tour event so I can’t really believe what just happened.
“My goal was just to compete with these guys and see where my game was at. I’m going to take my girlfriend and my dad out for dinner tonight and celebrate.”
Alongside McElroy in third was Swede Hugo Townsend, son of Ryder Cup star Peter Townsend, on 11-under.
American Nick Carlson and Spaniard Carlos Pigem shared fifth on -10, while Quim Vidal, Robin Petersson and David Law finished a shot further back in seventh.
Repetto Taylor catapults 203 places into 13th position on the Road to Mallorca Rankings courtesy of his maiden victory. Daniel van Tonder remains in pole position following his two victories in South Africa at the start of the year, while Italian Renato Paratore is 22 points behind in second. Englishman Joshua Berry and Spaniard Quim Vidal are third and fourth respectively, while Jamie Rutherford makes up the top five.
The Road to Mallorca heads to Switzerland for the Swiss Challenge, taking place at Golf Sempach from June 5-8, 2025.
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