By GolfDigestME.com
Javier Sainz and Euan Walker made the perfect start in their quest for a DP World Tour card by each posting four-under rounds of 68 on day one of the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final.

The duo lead by one at Club de Golf Alcanada as they look to climb into the top 20 on the Road to Mallorca Rankings and secure DP World Tour playing rights for 2023.

Both men earned their maiden European Challenge Tour titles in 2022, with Sainz, the Road to Mallorca No. 36, claiming the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge title in May, while Scotsman Walker, currently ranked 21st, won the British Challenge last month.

Should either player win this week they would be guaranteed a spot in the top 20, however they have a host of players chasing them down.

Alexander Knappe, the current Road to Mallorca No. 3, is in a share of third place after round one, with England’s Todd Clements and Frenchman Jeong weon Ko joining him on three-under.

A group of seven players, including Rankings leader Jeremy Freiburghaus are in a share of sixth place on two-under. Should the leaderboard remain as it is, the 26-year-old is projected to become the Challenge Tour’s first Swiss No. 1.

The weather is expected to turn on Friday with strong winds forecast to arrive in Mallorca, resulting in an implementation of an early two-tee start.

“I did some good work with my caddie,” said Sainz. “I missed two shots today and was always on the right side of the course. This is the key when you play this course with how the course is prepared.

“We had two weeks off and I think it was good for me to rest before playing the Grand Final. I did some good work last week and that came through today. I need to be patient and see what the rest of the week brings.”

Walker added: “It’s about as well as I could have hoped for really, I hit the ball really nicely and I had a few breaks go my way so I can’t hope for anything better than that.

Walker added: “I have been playing nicely for about three months now, I think its just a culmination of lots of things now, but its been going really well. The trick in golf is to keep doing well, I’m not saying it’s easy to play well one day but to play well consistently over a longer period of time is that’s what I want to do and hopefully I can do over the next couple of days.”

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