With the top 20 at the end of the Challenge Tour’s Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final at Club de Golf Alcanada in Port d’Alcúdia, Mallorca, set to get their DP World Tour cards, Deon Germishuys took a step in that direction with his opening round on Thursday.

Germishuys carded a four-under-par 68 to be in a share of 12^th place in the season finale, but, more importantly, he was projected to rise two places to 12^th on the Road to Mallorca rankings. That puts him in a good spot to gain the promotion for which he has been playing all season.

He was six shots off the lead, which was held by Angel Ayora of Spain, who had a superb opening 10-under-par 62. That gave the Spaniard a one-stroke lead over Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen of Denmark, while Kristoffer Reitan of Norway was in third on seven-under-par.

Germishuys shared 12^th with Italy’s Gergory De Leo. The big South African birdied the first hole, but dropped that gain with a bogey on the fourth. He was pretty much error-free after that, with birdies on sixth, eighth and ninth giving him impetus on to the back nine. He birdied the 11^th, and then made par all the way home.

Justin Walters opened with a two-under-par 70, which gave him a share of 18^th. That, however, only projects him to 45^th place on the rankings, which means he will have to pull a rabbit out of the hat during the remaining three rounds of the Challenge Tour season.

Wilco Nienaber, who is projected to drop three places to 28^th, also has his work cut out for him after an opening level-par 72 for a share of 34^th.

Also of interest were the performances of Rhys Enoch of Wales and Benjamin Follet-Smith of Zimbabwe, both Sunshine Tour players. Enoch had a two-under 70 and is projected to remain in 40^th, while Follett-Smith battled to a three-over 75 and is projected to drop to 34^th on the rankings.