The Italian Challenge Open takes place this week at Golf Nazionale and marks the 26th of 29 events on the 2025 Road to Mallorca. Here are three players to keep an eye on…
Form horse: JC Ritchie
JC Ritchie’s form this season is hard to ignore after he added a second win of the 2025 campaign to his growing resumé just last week. The South African triumphed in the Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos thanks to a birdie-birdie-birdie finish on Sunday which saw him win by one stroke. That was Richie’s second win in his last four starts and his sixth HotelPlanner Tour win, the first of which came back in 2020. With just four events of the season remaining, Ritchie is now in second place on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, and with current Number One, David Law, not in the field this week, the 31-year-old has an opportunity to close the gap.
Local boy: Filippo Celli
Filippo Celli has climbed into a fantastic position on the Road to Mallorca, with promotion to the DP World Tour all-but secured heading into his home event in Italy. The 25-year-old recorded back-to-back top tens in the UAE in April to kick-start his season before showing impressive consistency over the past two months. A second-place finish in the Interwetten Open in July was the first of four top five finishes in his next five HotelPlanner Tour starts which ended in a maiden victory in The Dutch Futures just last month. Celli is fourth in the season-long Rankings and could move as high as second with a win on home soil this week.
The outsider: Benjamin Rusch
Benjamin Rusch is looking to prolong his season this week in Italy. The Swiss currently sits 68th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings and holds the final position set to qualify for back-to-back events in China at the conclusion of this week’s Italian Challenge Open. Should he drop below 68th, it could be a case of waiting until 2026 for another chance at promotion to the DP World Tour. It’s due to be a nervy week for several players in the field, but Rusch will draw on fond memories of Golf Nazionale having enjoyed success here a couple of years ago. In 2023, when the HotelPlanner Tour last travelled to Sutri, Rusch finished tied third, carding four under par rounds.
