Challenge Tour at 30: In numbers
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With today marking the 30<span style="font-size: 10px;">th</span>anniversary of the European Challenge Tour, we bring you a collection of the best statistics from the past three decades on Europe’s top developmental tour.
<strong>1989</strong>– the year of the first ever Challenge Tour tournament, which was held in Italy on<strong>March 15<span style="font-size: 10px;">th</span></strong>and was called the<strong>Open dei Tessali</strong>.
<strong>2</strong>– the number of Challenge Tour titles won by<strong>Neal Briggs</strong>who triumphed in the tour’s first event, the<strong>1989 Open dei Tessali</strong>, and was also crowned the first Challenge Tour Number One that same year.
<strong>41 – </strong>the number of events played in the very first Challenge Tour season. The tour visited just<strong>eight </strong>countries that year: Finland, Italy, France, Scotland, Sweden, England, Switzerland and West Germany.
<strong>1</strong>– the number of former Challenge Tour players to have gone on to captain Europe in The Ryder Cup.<strong>Thomas Bjørn</strong>will become the first to do so later this year.
<strong>27</strong>– the number of former Challenge Tour players to have competed in The Ryder Cup.<strong>26</strong>have represented Europe while just one has represented the United States –<strong>Brooks Koepka</strong>in<strong>2016</strong>.
<strong>1</strong>–<strong>Martin Kaymer</strong>is the only Challenge Tour graduate who has reached<strong>Number One </strong>in the<strong>Official World Golf Ranking</strong>.
<strong>8</strong>– the number of Major Championships won by former Challenge Tour players.
<strong>7</strong>– the number of former Challenge Tour players who have won a Major:<strong>Michael Campbell (2005 U.S. Open), Trevor Immelman (2008 Masters Tournament), Louis Oosthuizen (2010 Open Championship), Martin Kaymer (2010 U.S. Open and 2014 US PGA Championship), Justin Rose (2013 U.S. Open), Henrik Stenson (2016 Open Championship) </strong>and<strong>Brooks Koepka (2017 U.S. Open)</strong>
<strong>432</strong>– the number of European Tour wins by former Challenge Tour players.
<strong>15</strong>– the most European Tour wins by a former Challenge Tour player, a feat achieved by<strong>1995 Challenge Tour Number One Thomas Bjørn</strong>.
<strong>8</strong>– the number of Challenge Tour wins by Englishman<strong>Iain Pyman </strong>– the most by any player in the history of the tour.<strong>Pyman’s</strong>first Challenge Tour victory came in<strong>1999</strong>at the<strong>BMW Russian Open</strong>while his last came in<strong>2008</strong>at the<strong>Tusker Kenya Open</strong>.
<strong>5</strong>– the most wins by a Challenge Tour player in one season. In<strong>1998</strong>England’s<strong>Warren Bennett</strong>triumphed in the<strong>Challenge de France, </strong><strong>BTC Slovenian Open</strong><strong>, <strong>Open des Volcans</strong>, Moscow Country Club Russian Open</strong>and the<strong>Challenge Tour Grand Final</strong>.
<strong>284 </strong>– the most appearances by any one player in Challenge Tour history, achieved by England’s<strong>Paul Dwyer</strong>between<strong>1999</strong>and<strong>2015</strong>.
<strong>17</strong>– the age of the<strong>youngest</strong>ever winner on the Challenge Tour. Germany’s<strong>Dominic Foos</strong>was<strong>just 17 years and 347 days old </strong>when he won the<strong>Gant Open</strong>in<strong>2015</strong>.
<strong>46</strong>– the age of the<strong>oldest </strong>ever winner on the Challenge Tour. Spain’s<strong>Antonio Garrido</strong>was<strong>46 years and 49 days old </strong>when he triumphed at the<strong>Torras Hostench Terramar tournament</strong>in<strong>1990</strong>.
<strong>13</strong>– the number of players who have won on their Challenge Tour debut. Such players include Masters Champion<strong>Trevor Immelman (2000 Tusker Kenya Open), Martin Kaymer (2006 Vodafone Challenge)</strong>and<strong>Edoardo Molinari (2007 Club Colombia Masters).</strong>
<strong>29</strong>– the record under par score in a Challenge Tour event. Both<strong>Thomas Detry (2016 Bridgestone Challenge) </strong>and<strong>Ivó Giner (2003 Terme Euganee International Open</strong>) reached<strong>29 under par </strong>after four rounds.
<strong>12</strong>– the largest winning margin in Challenge Tour history, a feat also achieved by<strong>Thomas Detry </strong>when he finished<strong>12 shots</strong>clear of second-placed Thriston Lawrence at the<strong>2016 Bridgestone Challenge</strong>.
<strong>57%</strong>– the win ratio of<strong>Kristoffer Broberg</strong>when he played on the Challenge Tour. The Swede broke various records in<strong>2012</strong>when he tore through the Challenge Tour, winning<strong> four</strong>of his<strong>seven </strong>starts, while also finishing no lower than<strong>tied ninth</strong>. His scoring average<strong>67.59</strong>is also a Challenge Tour record.
<strong>59</strong>– only two players have ever shot a<strong>59</strong>in the history of the European, Staysure and Challenge Tours. They are both Challenge Tour players -<strong>Adrien Mörk</strong>at the<strong>2006 Tikida Hotels Agadir Moroccan Classic</strong>and<strong>Nicolo Ravano</strong>at the<strong>2016 Fred Olsen Challenge de España</strong>.
<strong>13</strong>– the age of the youngest player to make a cut in the history of the Challenge Tour. Chinese amateur<strong>Li Linqiang</strong>was<strong>13 years and 345 days old</strong>when he played his way into the weekend of last year’s Hainan Open.
