Arnaus wins Challenge Tour Grand Final; four Scots graduate; Hoey misses out

Challenge Tour Grand Final winner Adri Arnaus (left) and Ras Al Khaimah winner Joachim B. Hansen. Picture: Getty Images

Michael Hoey missed out on promotion to the European Tour by 20,382 points when he finished 22nd in the Ras Al Khaimah Challenge Tour Grand Final and 25th in the final Rankings.

Adri Arnaus fired a three under par final round of 69 to claim a wire-to-wire victory on the final day of the season as 15 players graduated to the European Tour.

The Spaniard had been in outstanding form all week at Al Hamra Golf Club, and after rounds of 66-69-67 gave him a three-shot lead, he had to hole a four foot putt to seal a one-stroke win over Victor Perez on 17-under.

Frenchman Perez was looking to make it back-to-back victories on Europe’s top developmental tour after his Foshan Open win a fortnight ago – a move which would have dethroned Joachim B. Hansen as the Road to Ras Al Khaimah Number One.

Despite closing with a superb five under par 67, Perez’s title charge ultimately fell short leaving Hansen to become the first Dane since Thomas Bjørn in 1995 to top the season-long Rankings. 

But the most captivating battle today came for the final spot inside the coveted top 15. At the start of the week it was advantage Tom Murray, who held the final graduation position. His challenge ultimately fell away with a one over par 73 in the year’s final round. 

Contrastingly Portugal’s Pedro Figueiredo, who started the week in 17th place in the Rankings, flew up the leaderboard by carding a closing 67 to push Murray outside of the top 15.

The battle for the final card looked to have been won by Dutchman Daan Huizing, who needed to finish in solo second place to claim the last spot. 

The 28 year old held the position with two holes to play, but after three-putting for a costly double bogey on the 17th he was forced to settle for third place – handing Figueiredo the 15th and final European Tour card

Hoey needed a top-three finish to graduate but had to settle for a level par 72 and a share of 22nd on four-under.

He earned €4,400 and fell four spots to 25th in the final Ras Al Khaimah Rankings with 73,958 points from 21 starts.

Scotland were the big winners in the graduation stakes, claiming four of the 15 European Tour cards with Finland taking two and Denmark, Spain, France, Sweden, England, Wales, Italy, the USA and Portugal getting one each.