Sjöholm eyes place on European Tour

As the countdown to the Ras Al Khaimah 2017 Golf Challenge begins, Sweden's Joel Sjöholm is looking to Jordan Smith, winner of last year's inaugural event, for inspiration in one of the European Challenge Tour's most significant events.

Taking place at the stunning Al Hamra Golf Club from october 26-29, the Ras Al Khaimah tournament is the penultimate stop on the Road to Oman and one of the last remaining opportunities, for players to gain a spot in the all-important top 15 on the season rankings to gain promotion to the European Tour.

Having finally secured his first title in his tenth season as a Tour professional at the Italian Challenge Open by Lyoness in July, the 32-year-old now has his sights set on emulating Smith, whose victory at the at the inaugural Ras Al Khaimah Golf Challenge in his rookie season last year sealed top spot on the Road to Oman Rankings.

The win proved to be a springboard to further success on this year's European Tour where Smith has already won his first title at the Porsche European Open and risen to 18th in the Race to Dubai with his spot in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in November already guaranteed.

"I think that all of these fantastic stories of players that go from nothing to everything very quickly shows you that the Challenge Tour is a great place to be but you want to get off it as soon as possible to progress to the European Tour and everyone wants to be like Jordan Smith," said Sjöholm who was getting some practice in at the European Tour Performance Institute at Jumeirah Golf Estates ahead of the crucial run in of the Challenge Tour season.

"I could clearly see Jordan was a fantastic golfer but I never dreamed his rise to success would go so quickly. But that's the beauty of golf and everyone is striving to become the next Jordan Smith. Everyone has their own kind of path and some guys are on the Challenge Tour for a little while whilst some are on it for longer and need to learn what to do to progress onto European Tour."

Sjöholm turned professional in 2008 and began life on the Challenge Tour, gaining promotion to the European Tour after finishing in 12th place on the rankings in 2010. After three seasons in Europe's top tier he dropped back down to the Challenge Tour in 2014 and after finishing 101st position in last year's Road to Oman Rankings, he was forced to rely on sponsor's invites for all but nine or ten events on this season's schedule. He even resorted to selling chocolates back in Sweden during the off-season to make ends meet and to ensure he had enough cash to sustain his Challenge Tour travels this season. But in golf, winning changes everything and with his victory in Italy came top level 'Category 1' eligibility to the remainder of the season's events, as well as a newfound confidence on the course which he hopes will power him to European Tour promotion. Sjöholm finished tied 68th in Ras Al Khaimah last year but he enters the event this time around with the prospect of getting back to where he feels he belongs very much in the offing.

"The Ras Al Khaimah 2017 Golf Challenge could be the week that decides if I'm playing on the European Tour next year," said Sjöholm.

"Last year's event was amazing and I'm really looking forward to coming back. I did okay - I didn't do great, but I know what I have to do better this time. It was the first time I'd been there and it was great fun. We got to see most of Ras Al Khaimah and to go up on the mountains was a special moment.

"Last year's tournament was well run and the players love playing in the UAE. It was also an eye opener for me last year as I hadn't actually heard of Ras Al Khaimah before so it was really cool to see it and lots of my friends have gone and played on the course since then. It's great that we are able to bring a golf tournament there."

The latest entries for the Ras Al Khaimah 2017 Golf Challenge highlight its importance on the schedule.

Finland's Tapio Pulkkanen, who is currently top billing in the Road to Oman Rankings after victory at the recent Kazakhstan Open in addition to three more top ten finishes including two runner-up spots, heads the line-uP

Source: Khaleej Times