The fourth and final round of the Hotelplanner Tour’s Italian Challenge concluded on Sunday, and it was delight for South Africa’s JC Ritchie as the 31-year-old earned his third win of the season meaning he will have DP World Tour status in 2026.
It was a commanding display from Ritchie who held T1 alongside Sweden’s Robin Petersson heading into the final round as Ritchie was electric out of the gates – making seven birdies on the first seven holes.
Two early birdies for Petersson were quickly cancelled out by two bogeys, allowing Ritchie some breathing space to dominate the front nine.
Knowing he got the job done, Ritchie can be forgiven for his triple bogey on 18 to post a four-under par final round and win on 20-under.
“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “It’s the best possible outcome for the season.”
“I started off the season not knowing what I was going to do for the year. I planned on playing Sunshine Tour and I didn’t really have a goal for the year.”
“I went out to Dubai on the HotelPlanner Tour and finished second there and thought then that I really had to keep playing. Luckily there was a lot of good work that produced those results early in the year and it’s all led up to this.”
“All I had to do today was keep myself calm, which got a little tough at the end.”
Speaking on his triple bogey on the last, Ritchie added; “The little mishap on the 18th took away the celebrations a bit, but this week I felt like I was pretty close to having my a-game.”
Reminiscing on his flawless start, the South African said; “I knew the first two holes were birdie holes for the day and I felt like if I got those two, I would be on the front foot for the day and I managed to hit it close twice.”
“The next five holes were some of the best holes I’ve played in terms of tee to green and execution, and then I made I don’t even know how many feet of putts. They were unbelievable putts that I haven’t made all week. That was a lot of fun.”
Ritchie has now passed Scotland’s David Law in the Road to Mallorca rankings to take top spot on 1,518.18 points.
It was a valiant effort by Petersson as the Swede searched for his maidan win but that feat will have to wait as the 33-year-old posted a two-under-par final round to finish on 18-under.
This result saw Petersson climb 41 places in the Road to Mallorca standings to 33rd.
Joining Petersson in T2 was his fellow country man Cristofer Rahm who climbed the leaderboard after a five-under-par round. Rahm himself saw a hot streak towards the back end of the front nine as the 27-year-old made four birdies in a row.
It was a three-way tie for fourth as England’s Steven Brown, Netherlands’s Lars Van der Vight and USA’s Brandon Kewalramani all finished on 17-under.
An eight-under-par round for Kewalramani saw the 26-year-old climb 15 places on the final day, making nine birdies with seven of them coming on the back nine.
The HotelPlanner Tour takes a two-week break before back-to-back weeks in China, which begin with the Hainan Open at Sanya Luhuitou GC from October 9-12.
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