The Road to Mallorca returned to Spain for the second time in three weeks as the €300,000 Challenge de España was staged at Isla Canela Links in Huelva.
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Isla Canela Links represented one of the only links-style tests on the 2026 Road to Mallorca schedule and made its HotelPlanner Tour debut as a tournament venue.
The course meandered along the banks of the Guadiana River, offering views towards the Portuguese Algarve and the Gulf of Cadiz. Despite being one of the flatter venues on the 2026 schedule, Isla Canela Links provided a stern examination throughout the week, with strong winds and undulating greens testing the field.
A host of homegrown talent teed it up at Isla Canela Links hoping to follow in the footsteps of rising star Pablo Ereno, who had triumphed on home soil at the Challenge de Catalunya two weeks earlier. Ereno was back in action as he looked to strengthen his position in the race for one of the coveted DP World Tour cards awarded to the top 15 players at the end of the season.
The Challenge de España continued its long-standing place on the Road to Mallorca schedule, having first been played in 1999 when Carl Suneson became the inaugural champion. Since 2006, the tournament has been an ever-present fixture and has crowned a number of notable winners.
DP World Tour winner Matthew Baldwin claimed his maiden professional victory at the 2011 edition, while five-time Major Champion Brooks Koepka secured his third HotelPlanner Tour title in 2013, finishing ten strokes clear of the field. DP World Tour winners Adrien Saddier, Antoine Rozner, Victor Perez and Martin Couvra have also lifted the trophy, along with home favourite Joel Moscatel, who returned to Isla Canela looking to secure a second Challenge de España title in three years following his victory at Real Club Sevilla Golf in 2024.
The Road to Mallorca Rankings continued to take shape, with Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen arriving on the back of his second HotelPlanner Tour victory of the season in Denmark, a result that had propelled him to fourth in the standings.
However, with both Pulkkanen and Rankings leader MJ Daffue absent from the field, home favourite Ereno had an opportunity to make further ground. Englishman Chris Wood, who sat seventh in the Road to Mallorca Rankings, also featured after winning the Italian Challenge Open earlier in May and looked to bounce back from a missed cut at the Challenge de Catalunya.
Ryan van Velzen overcame a difficult start to his final round to seal a maiden HotelPlanner Tour title at the Challenge de España.
Here’s the prize money breakdown for each golfer at the 2026 Challenge de España
1st – Ryan van Velzen – €48,000.00
2nd – Wil Besseling – €27,000.00
T2nd – Dan Erickson – €27,000.00
4th – Pedro Figueiredo – €18,000.00
5th – Charles Huntzinger – €13,500.00
T5th – Jamie Rutherford – €13,500.00
7th – Matteo Cristoni – €8,400.00
T7th – Pablo Ereño – €8,400.00
T7th – Liam Nolan – €8,400.00
10th – Barclay Brown – €5,925.00
T10th – Aymeric Laussot – €5,925.00
T10th – Filip Mruzek – €5,925.00
T10th – Kieran Vincent – €5,925.00
14th – Victor Bjørlow – €4,950.00
T14th – Matt Gilchrest – €4,950.00
16th – Julien Brun – €3,900.00
T16th – Alex Goff – €3,900.00
T16th – Jhared Hack – €3,900.00
T16th – Justin Harding – €3,900.00
T16th – Frank Kennedy – €3,900.00
21st – Haydn Barron – €2,910.00
T21st – Albert Boneta – €2,910.00
T21st – Wouter de Vries – €2,910.00
T21st – Lauri Ruuska – €2,910.00
T21st – Santiago Tarrio – €2,910.00
26th – George Bloor – €2,580.00
T26th – Benjamin Hébert – €2,580.00
T26th – Liam Johnston – €2,580.00
T26th – Aron Zemmer – €2,580.00
T26th – Jiri Zuska – €2,580.00
31st – Jean Bekirian – €2,130.00
T31st – Steven Brown – €2,130.00
T31st – Emilio Cuartero Blanco – €2,130.00
T31st – Bryce Easton – €2,130.00
T31st – Will Enefer – €2,130.00
T31st – Marc Hammer – €2,130.00
T31st – Julien Quesne – €2,130.00
T31st – Julien Sale – €2,130.00
T31st – Tadeas Tetak – €2,130.00
T31st – Jacopo Vecchi Fossa – €2,130.00
41st – Javier Barcos Garbayo – €1,740.00
T41st – Fiorino Clerici – €1,740.00
T41st – Charlie Forster – €1,740.00
44th – Deon Germishuys – €1,470.00
T44th – Chase Hanna – €1,470.00
T44th – Sam Hutsby – €1,470.00
T44th – Christian Jacobsen – €1,470.00
T44th – Mark Power – €1,470.00
T44th – James Sugrue – €1,470.00
50th – Veer Ahlawat – €1,176.00
T50th – Matthis Besard – €1,176.00
T50th – Christian Braeunig – €1,176.00
T50th – Maxence Giboudot – €1,176.00
T50th – Lars van Meijel – €1,176.00
55th – Bailey Gill – €1,050.00
T55th – Wilco Nienaber – €1,050.00
T55th – Andrew Wilson – €1,050.00
58th – Asier Aguirre – €990.00
59th – Callan Barrow – €915.00
T59th – Javier Calles Roman – €915.00
T59th – Max Kennedy – €915.00
T59th – Alfie Plant – €915.00
63rd – John-Ross Galbraith – €825.00
T63rd – Corey Shaun – €825.00
65th – Quinnton Croker – €765.00
T65th – Clément Sordet – €765.00
67th – Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon – €720.00
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