Julien Sale produced a dominant final round performance to secure victory at the HotelPlanner Tour’s Grand Final, while Denmark’s Hamish Brown topped the season-long Road to Mallorca Rankings.
The 29-year-old Frenchman, who was guaranteed of promotion to the DP World Tour before the season finale in Mallorca, posted his second 65 of the week at Club de Golf Alcanada to reach 22 under par and finish four strokes clear of Brown, who narrowly held onto solo second to capture the season-long title.
Sale ends the year second on the rankings and will now step up to the DP World Tour for the first time since he turned professional in 2022.
Sale started the day with a one-stroke lead and fired four front-nine birdies to take control. A gain on the par-five 12th further extended his advantage before he dropped his only shot of the day on the next.
He responded well, however, with three birdies in his final six holes helping him to his second HotelPlanner Tour triumph of 2026, after his win on home soil at the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge earlier this year.
Positive momentum
Sale said: “It was a tough day today because I knew that the guys behind me were going to play well and try to catch me, but I’m really happy with how I played. This result is hopefully going to give me a lot of positive momentum as we going into next season.”
Brown posted a closing 67 in Alcúdia to reach 18 under par for the week and held onto solo second after South African MJ Daffue saw his birdie putt slide by on the 72nd hole.
“It’s been a proper grind today,” Brown said. “I had to dig deep at points, but it turned out alright, even though the finish wasn’t quite what I wanted.
“To actually end up on top of the rankings gives me a lot of confidence. I had a tough year last year on the DP World Tour, but I wasn’t too far away and I’m not I’m not scared of it for next year. I know what I need to do and not to do.”
DP World Tour cards banked
Others looking forward to bigger events and bigger prize funds on next season’s DP Word Tour include Dutchman Lars van der Vight, a two-time HotelPlanner Tour winner this season, who ended the year in third spot, with another two-time victor, Sweden’s Christofer Blomstrand, in fourth.
Daffue, who won twice at the start of the year in South Africa and India, rounds out the top five with Spaniard Pablo Ereño in sixth. Tapio Pulkkanen (7th) returns to the DP World Tour at the first time of asking and is joined by Adam Wallin (8th), Liam Nolan (9th) and John Gough (10th).
Sebastian Friedrichsen ends the year in 11th position after sealing his breakthrough win in Portugal and is joined by Englishman Will Enefer in 12th.
Marc Warren delivered during the back nine on Sunday with a tied for fifth finish helping him climb seven places to 13th. Andrew Wilson ends the year in 14th while Frenchman Maxence Giboudot held onto the all-important 15th position to confirm his spot on the DP World Tour for the first time.
Those players to just fall short of the top 15 included England’s Matthew Southgate. The 38-year-old form Southend was in 15th place in the rankings going into the final, but was knocked down into 16th by Marc Warren, who was the only player to move into a promotion spot.
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