Dylan Frittelli leads a six-man contingent of South Africans this week at the SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge on the Challenge Tour, hoping to curb his recent run of missed cuts.
The 26-year-old has hopped around the world recently, but missed cuts at the European Tour’s AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open and Lyoness Open, along with the Challenge Tour’s Najeti Open.
This season he’s recorded nine top-20 finishes worldwide and came within a whisker of winning a European Tour event when he lost to Nathan Holman in a playoff for the Australian PGA Championship. He followed that up with top-10 finishes at the Eye of Africa PGA Championship on the Sunshine Tour and the Holden New Zealand PGA Championship on the Australasian Tour.
He started his Challenge Tour campaign in promising fashion with a tied-fourth finish at the Barclays Kenya Open, which he backed up with a share of 11th at the Egyptian Challenge. In between these two events he shot a final-round 65 for sole second at the Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open.
Despite only playing three Challenge Tour events this season, he sits 40th in the Road to Oman standings, meaning that a top-25 spot and a European Tour card for 2017 is not far off. He does have to buckle down and make the most of his opportunity this week if we wants to achieve that goal.
Frittelli last played the Scottish Hydro Challenge in 2014 where he missed the cut, but he finished in an encouraging share of 13th the year prior.
Other South Africans in the field include Michael Palmer, Darryn Lloyd, Thriston Lawrence, Merrick Bremner, and Dean Burmester. The last of those players was in contention in 2015 and eventually tied for 17th place.
The Scottish Hydro Challenge is a prestigious event that includes former champions such as Brooks Koepka and Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston. The South Africans will be hoping to do well this week despite the focus being on Romain Langasque and Chase Koepka, Brooks’ younger brother.
