David GonzalezJulien Sale has the luxury of knowing he will be playing on the DP World Tour next season. For several of the men trying to catch him in Mallorca, the weekend carries a rather less comfortable kind of uncertainty.
The Frenchman produced ten birdies in a seven-under-par 65 on Friday at Club de Golf Alcanada, moving to 13 under at the halfway point of the HotelPlanner Tour Grand Final. Lars van der Vight is one shot back, with overnight leader Joseba Torres another stroke behind.
It is a particularly useful time to find a hot putter. The Grand Final is the 28th and last event on the 2026 Road to Mallorca, with 45 players competing for 15 DP World Tour cards.
Six birdies after the turn
Sale’s scorecard was hardly spotless. Three dropped shots interrupted an eventful front nine, and he reached the turn just one under for the day. Then the birdies arrived in a hurry.
He made three in succession from the 11th, added another pair at the 15th and 16th, and finished with a tenth birdie at the 18th. Six gains on the back nine turned a promising round into the outright lead.
“Today was a great round, and I cannot believe I made ten birdies. I’ve been playing really well and managed to make a couple of putts which was nice. I had a couple of mistakes, but the birdies were there.”
Sale reckoned the closing stretch offered opportunities, provided he stayed patient.
“After nine holes I was playing catch up but I just kept going and the putts started to drop.”
He is not playing simply to protect his position.
“The goal this week is to try and win the tournament so being in this position is great.”
A title race with a rankings prize
Sale’s breakthrough victory and five further top-ten finishes have already secured his promotion. A win in Mallorca would add a final flourish, while his current position has him projected to finish top of the season-long Rankings. If that happens, he would be the first Frenchman to do so since Mike Lorenzo-Vera 19 years ago.
Van der Vight kept the pressure on with a bogey-free 65 of his own to reach 12 under. Torres, the first-round leader, shot 68 and sits third on 11 under, two behind Sale.
For the Spaniard, who has his uncle José María Olazábal mentoring him this week, the arithmetic is more urgent. He needs a sixth-place finish to keep his DP World Tour promotion hopes alive.
“I need to keep the throttle down as the guys are making birdies, so I just need to keep going as I am,” Torres said.
Southgate faces the sharp end of the card race
John Catlin is fourth on ten under, with England’s Matthew Southgate and South Africa’s MJ Daffue a further shot back. Southgate currently occupies 15th place in the Rankings: the last of the promotion spots.
He described a difficult adjustment to the Alcanada greens, having battled to a two-under opening round before getting a better feel for their pace on Friday. His improvement could scarcely have arrived at a more important moment.
“We’ve had the whole season to jostle for position but being fairly critical of myself I probably should have capitalised a few more times to not be in this position.”
Saturday’s third round begins at 10.38 am local time. Sale, Van der Vight and Torres go out together at 12.02 pm, with one player chasing a title from a position of security and others still having to earn theirs.
