Clinical Kimsey claims Rolex Grand Final and Road to Mallorca double

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By GolfDigestME.com
Nathan Kimsey became the first Englishman to win the Road to Mallorca Rankings since 2016 after securing his second victory of the season at the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A.

The 29-year-old posted a closing two under par round of 70 to move to nine under par and secure a one-stroke victory over countryman John Parry and South African Bryce Easton, who shared second place at Club de Golf Alcanada to both break into the Road to Mallorca top 20 and clinch DP World Tour playing privileges.

Kimsey’s win saw him climb five places to the top of the Road to Mallorca Rankings and become the 11th English Challenge Tour Number One and first since Jordan Smith in 2016.

The Englishman started the final day slowly with four pars and a bogey in his first five holes, however, after carding birdies at the sixth and eighth holes he climbed to the top of the leaderboard before an eagle at the par five 13th essentially sealed a memorable victory.

Kimsey, who won the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge earlier this season, finished 48,894 points ahead of Switzerland’s Jeremy Freiburghaus, who came second on the Rankings, with German Alexander Knappe finishing third.

Ten-time Sunshine Tour winner JC Ritchie graduated in fourth place with Swede Mikael Lindberg finishing fifth and completing the quintet who will benefit from the John Jacobs Bursary Award next season.

Lindberg’s fellow Swede Jens Dantorp finished sixth, while Daniel Hillier, from New Zealand, finished in seventh place. Number Eight Oliver Hundebøll was one of two Danes to secure graduation alongside Martin Simonsen, who finished the season in 14th place, while German Freddy Schott and Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin rounded out the top ten. Northern Irishman McKibbin, aged just 19, was the youngest man in the field and climbed five places to tenth on the Rankings with a tie for sixth in Mallorca.

Parry, Easton and England’s Matthew Baldwin all made a final day move into the top 20, finishing 17th, 18th and 19th, while the final DP World Tour card belongs to South African Deon Germishuys, who finished just 1,507 points ahead of Poland’s Mateusz Gradecki who narrowly missed out on graduation.