Daniel Young says Scots up for Challenge again in bid for DP World Tour cards

Daniel Young is hoping to maintain a recent trend of Scottish players successfully stepping up from the Challenge Tour to the DP World Tour.

The tangible tartan trail has become a welcome factor for nearly a decade, starting when Andrew McArthur and Jamie McLeary were among the 2015 Challenge Tour graduates.

Duncan Stewat and Bradley Neil then secured step ups at the end of the 2016 and 2017 campaigns respectively before Grant Forrest, Liam Johnston, Bob MacIntyre and David Law all gained main tour cards at the same time after a very productive 2018 campaign for the Scots.

Helped by two wins, Calum Hill was the next to move up the ladder along with Connor Syme in 2019.

Daniel Young, pictured during last year's Cazoo Classic at the London Golf Club, is hoping for a strong season on the Challenge Tour. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.

And, though no cards were on offer in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was also mission accomplished for both Ewen Ferguson and Craig Howie last season.

“There’s four or five of us on the Challenge Tour this year,” said Young, speaking as he prepared for the start of the 2022 campaign in this week’s Dimension Data Pro-Am at Fancourt in South Africa.

“So hopefully two or three of us can get off or maybe even all of us and we can keep that trend going this year.”

Young, a winner on the Tartan Pro Tour towards the end of last season, joins Neil, Johnston, Euan Walker and Challenge Tour newcomer Calum Fyfe in the Fancourt field, which also includes Doug McGuigan after he came through a qualifier.

“I’ve been working hard back home with my coach, Sandy Smith,” said Kingsbarns Links-attached Young, who is starting his third campaign on the second-tier circuit.

“We’ve been trying to tidy up a couple of things from last year, when I didn’t start off great.I was struggling a little bit before having a good second half to the year. I feel my swing is in a much better place and I’m ready to go for this year.”

Big-hitting South African Wilco Nienaber defends the title in a line up that also includes double US Open champion Retief Goosen, as well as 2017 British Masters winner Paul Dunne.

Elsewhere, Auchterarder’s Rory Franssen is through to the last eight in the South African Amateur Championship at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club.

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