Tournament: Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A
Venue: Club de Golf Alcanada, Port d’Alcúdia, Mallorca, Spain
Road to Mallorca: Tournament 29 of 29
Prize Fund: €500,000
Road to Mallorca points: 4,000 (640)
Hashtag: #RolexGrandFinal #RoadtoMallorca
To download full player interview transcripts, please click here.
Julian Perico is hoping to become the first player from Peru to earn a DP World Tour card when he tees it up at this week’s Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A at Club de Golf Alcanada.
The Rolex Grand Final is the 29th and final event on the HotelPlanner Tour’s 2025 Road to Mallorca schedule, with the 45-man field in Alcúdia set to battle it out for one of the 20 coveted DP World Tour cards on offer. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the season-ending event which first appeared on the schedule in 1995.
Perico will make history by becoming the first Peruvian to appear in the HotelPlanner Tour’s season finale and he is determined to make the most of his opportunity after he played his way into the field at the penultimate event of the campaign.
The 25-year-old, who hadn’t been inside the all-important top 45 on the Road to Mallorca all season prior to the Hangzhou Open earlier this month, ended the week in China in a tie for second place, a result that catapulted him up 40 places to 27th and into the Rolex Grand Final.
DP World Tour winner Adri Arnaus, who won the Rolex Grand Final in 2018 when it took place in Ras Al Khaimah, has the chance to etch his name into the history books this week by becoming the first player to win the event on two occasions. The Spaniard, who hit the opening tee shot of the HotelPlanner Tour season, currently sits 38th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings and is in need of a good week to force his way into promotion contention.
South African JC Ritchie and Italian Renato Paratore have both won three times on the Road to Mallorca this season to earn automatic promotion to the DP World Tour. The pair sit in first and fourth place on the Rankings respectively, and they return for the showpiece event in Mallorca in the hope of being crowned HotelPlanner Tour Number One.
Jamie Rutherford arrives in Mallorca sitting in 20th position on the Rankings and in possession of the final DP World Tour card. The Englishman has narrowly missed out on promotion over the past two years, finishing 24th and 23rd respectively, with a lip-out on the 72nd hole 12 months ago seeing him miss out.
Any player in the field can mathematically graduate, with the likes of two-time DP World Tour winner James Morrison (36th) and last-man-in-the-field Victor Pastor (45th) requiring strong performances to break into the all-important top 20.
The 30th edition of the Rolex Grand Final takes place at Club de Golf Alcanada for a fifth time and will be broadcast live around the world for the fourth consecutive year.
The season finale gets under way at 9:02am local time, with Ritchie teeing off in the final group alongside Scotland’s David Law and Austrian Maximilian Steinlechner at 12:00pm.
Player Quotes
Julian Perico: It feels pretty good to be here. The whole year I felt like my game was kind of there, in a position to be here, I just hadn’t had the results. I was struggling really to find some motivation at times on the golf course. It’s my first year so I’ve got to be easy on myself and understand that it’s a year that we all learn a lot: different countries, different courses, different conditions. It definitely feels rewarding to be here.
I’m very proud of what I did to get here. Just one more good week and I’m on the DP World Tour. I know the good Lord has a good plan for me and all I need to do is work hard and try my best and that’s what I’m going to do this week, I’m really not too worried about it. Nothing changes for me. It’s a huge week but I always tell myself it’s 18 holes. Normally it’s 14 fairways, a couple of par threes, hit the ball and find it and hit it again.
It’s a very big deal but at the same time you don’t have to put more to it. I just want to have a good time and enjoy it. Ten days ago I was 67th in the Rankings and now I’m 27th. The bug comes flying into my head a little bit about DP World Tour but I’m just going to try my best out there and enjoy it.
Adri Arnaus: I’ve always enjoyed finals in general, and I always feel like it’s a little bit of a reward for a pretty solid season. You come out here with only one goal to try and top off a good season, get the win and at the end just enjoy the week because, as I said, it’s a little bit of a treat after a good season.
Obviously [getting a DP World Tour card] is the goal since we started the season. So, at the end it would mean a goal completed but more than anything I think satisfaction of doing a good job.
I am thinking one day at a time, but hopefully I can have the chance on Sunday. I am just focusing on playing good golf. I’m pleased because my game is evolving in the right direction. Sooner or later I will have that opportunity again [to compete on the DP World Tour]. Maybe next week, next year, I don’t know. It’s been a journey, a process. I think it’s a matter of enjoying [the challenge].
JC Ritchie: At the start of the season, I didn’t really know what I was going to get. I wasn’t planning on playing the HotelPlanner Tour for the year. I managed to have a really good finish in Ajman and that sort of forced me to focus on the HotelPlanner Tour for the rest of the season. It’s sort of turned out to be a dream year for me.
The goal for the week is to try and win. I think that is sort of the only thing I can focus on. There is no incentive points wise for me, category wise. So, if I just focus on playing the best event I can [then] whatever comes I’ll deal with that.
I think the biggest hurdle for me since I started playing in Europe, is a feeling that I didn’t know how to win in Europe. I have obviously known how to win back home but bringing it here has been a hurdle for me to jump. Germany was a very special week for me in my career. I didn’t just manage to win, but I managed to win comfortably. It just proved to me that I can get the job done out here, similar to how I knew I could back home. To wrap up two more after that was more than a dream come true.
Being on the DP World Tour and having a fight to hopefully get on the PGA TOUR over the next couple years is the ultimate dream. For now, I will try to finish off this week with the best possible result I can and then hopefully try to focus on winning next year.
Jamie Rutherford: I’ve just got to play good golf. I know if I win or I come close to winning, I’m going to be in a good position. That’s my goal. Everyone wants promotion at the start of each season. I know that I’ve played good enough golf for three seasons where I could’ve easily been in the top 20, but it’s been tight. I’m extremely motivated to have a great week.
I feel good. I’m really looking forward to the week. I’ve been in a very similar position in both of the last two years, so I know what to expect from the week. I feel like I’m in a good position to handle everything I need to. My game feels good and I’ve had a good few days of prep. I’ve loved coming here for the last three seasons and I’ve loved the golf course so I’m looking forward to a great week.
The first year we had difficult conditions two years ago here and I didn’t handle the position I was in that well. I didn’t play terribly but I didn’t handle it that great. Last year, I think I did. I played really nice and I was pretty calm and composed the whole week. I didn’t get off to the best start but I felt like I could take a lot from how I performed last year and that I’ve got a really good handle on the golf course. A focus of mine is to really enjoy the week, play free, play aggressive and try and win the tournament and not think about anything else.
