The Challenge de España marks the first event in Europe on the 2025 Road to Mallorca, with new HotelPlanner Tour venue, Fontanals Golf Club, playing host from May 8-11. Here are three players to keep an eye on…
Form horse: Renato Paratore
Renato Paratore arrives at Fontanals Golf Club chasing a place in the history books, as he could become the first player in HotelPlanner Tour history to win three events in consecutive starts. The Italian is in red-hot form having scooped both the UAE Challenge and Abu Dhabi Challenge titles last time out to catapult himself into second place on the season-long Road to Mallorca. With a third win, Paratore would not only etch his name into the record books, he would also secure automatic promotion to the DP World Tour.
Local boy: Quim Vidal
Quim Vidal arrives on home soil having made a fast start to the HotelPlanner Tour season. The Spaniard secured a maiden victory in the Delhi Challenge in March and will be hoping to continue that form with another solid outing on a familiar layout. Vidal currently sits sixth on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, and with the top 20 at the end of the year earning promotion to the Golf’s Global Tour, he could boost his chances should he impress this week. He also lives just an hour away from the Girona course, so knows the layout well.
The outsider: Lee Slattery
Fontanals Golf Club has been on the DP World Tour’s Qualifying School schedule for the past two years, meaning several players in the field have teed it up on here before. Lee Slattery is one of those players, with the Englishman having progressed to Final Stage last year after finishing fifth following four under par rounds of 69-67-66-67 for a 15 under par total. The two-time DP World Tour winner will be looking to use that knowledge to his advantage when play gets under way on Thursday.
