Romain Wattel is hoping his recent rise in form will keep him on the right track when he tees it up at the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge at Vierumäki Resort this week.
The former DP World Tour winner has risen 209 places on the Road to Mallorca Rankings since the middle of July, currently sitting in 41st place.
The top 45 players on the Rankings gain entry into the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by the R&A, and therefore a chance to finish inside the top 20 players on the season-long Rankings and earn a DP World Tour card for 2024.
Wattel, who finished second at the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by the R&A last week, has his sights set on ending the season on a high and hopefully completing his goal for the year.
“The goal is to finish in the top 20 on the Road to Mallorca Rankings at the end of the season and get my DP World Tour card back. That is my goal,” he said.
“I will try and play good golf to get into the Challenge Tour Grand Final because I haven’t qualified for that yet, and if I play well enough then I know I’ll be there.”
Two top five results in his last four events currently place the Frenchman inside the top 45 ahead of the trip to Vierumäki Resort. However, a victory would elevate his chances of making the season finale and returning to the DP World Tour.
“It would be fantastic to win this week,” he said.
“A win is a win, no matter if that is on the DP World Tour or the Challenge Tour or the Alps Tour or another development tour. You need to play well on each tour because there are so many good players everywhere. Obviously, it would be fantastic for me because it would change many things, but there are many great players which make it a tough challenge.
“It was nice to be in the last group on the last day in Scotland. I was nice to feel the pressure because it’s been a long time. I was really happy with the way I reacted to that and how I played the last round, because second place is a good result for me.
“I haven’t played much this year. My first tournament was in Denmark in May, but I’ve played well in the tournaments I have played.
“It’s important to be playing well with only a few months to go, but I don’t know if I’m going to play all the tournaments coming up because I don’t have a category this year. I’m currently taking it week by week and each performance counts a lot because it’s coming towards the end of the season.”
The Vierumäki Finnish Challenge begins at 07:40 local time with Wattel teeing off at 13:35 alongside Italian Francesco Laporta and home favourite Matias Honkala.
