A closing three-under-par 69 on Sunday gave JC Ritchie a top-15 finish in the Challenge Tour’s Challenge de Espana to keep him at the top of the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca rankings.
After a poor start to the week in difficult conditions, Ritchie reached halfway in five-over-par, but he pulled all of that back over the weekend with rounds of 70 and 69 to finish on level-par in a share of 13th. He was 10 shots behind the winner, Jens Dantorp of Sweden, who closed with a 66 for a three-stroke win over Victor Pastor of Spain. Two shots further back, Mikael Lindberg of Sweden was third after he, like Pastor, closed with a two-under 70.
Ritchie made five birdies and two bogeys, and got his final round to four-under through 11 holes. Bur he made his bogeys down the stretch, with the first coming on the 13th and the second on the 17th. There was a birdie in between those drops on the par-three 15th.
Behind him, Bryce Easton carded a final round of four-under-par 68 to climb into a share of 31st, while Wilco Nienaber rounded out a forgettable final three rounds with a two-over 74 to drop all the way down into a share of 48th at six-over – having led the first round at six-under.
Ritchie stays well clear at the top of the Road to Mallorca list after playing seven tournaments with two wins under his belt. Dimension Data Pro-Am winner Alexander Knappe of Germany is in second.
