Why Scottish golfer is beginning to feel like it's Groundhog Day at Mallorcan venue

For the third year in a row at the same venue, the 28-year-old Ayrshireman is in danger of coming up agonisingly short in the battle for DP World Tour cards in the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by Rolex and, though trying to stay positive, it’s starting to get under his skin.

“I wish I hadn’t played here the last two years and that tomorrow was the first time I was playing this golf course, to be honest,” admitted Walker at the end of the penultimate round in the second-tier circuit’s season finale of this place beginning to haunt him.  

Coming into the £420,000 event, the Swiss Challenge winner was sitting 24th in the Road to Mallorca rankings, with the magic number on this occasion being a top-22 finish due to Dane Rasmus Neergaard Petersen and South African Robin Williams having already secured a step up to the main tour through this season’s Race to Dubai points list.

Lying joint-24th in the 46-man field after following opening rounds of 67-72 with a 70 for a five-under-par total, Walker is down to 25th in the projected rankings but all is not lost. On the back of a burst of three birdies in four holes around the turn in the third round, he was sitting 22nd on the projected list, which shows it’s down to small margins this week, and a strong final round could catapult him into the card-winning zone.

“I just want to go in with no expectations and a totally clean slate,” he added with a smile, even though, in fairness, he is also probably fed up of having a recording device stuck under his nose by this correspondent at the end of every round he’s played here. “I’ve got to try and do my best to feel that way tomorrow.”

On a stunning day in the Balearics, Walker birdied the first, eighth, tenth and 11th and also signed for bogeys at the fourth and 14th. He’s dropped eight shots so far this week and seven of them have come at short holes.

“The whole week has been a bit deflating so far, to be honest,” admitted the former African Amateur champion. “I’ve just not done anything particularly well. The scoring has been good and I’ve just not taken advantage of anything. I’ve made too many mistakes.”

According to Edinburgh man Tim Poyser, who is on his bag this week, Walker has the game to carve out a career on the DP World Tour and, having decided to put all his eggs in the Challenge Tour basket for the past two seasons in his quest to get there, you get the feeling this particular Sunday could be a big one for him.

“To be honest, I wasn’t thinking about that on the course,” he replied to it being pointed out that he had jumped to 22nd at one point in the round before having the wind taken out of his sails by a three-putt for par at the long 15th then a bogey at the next. “But, yeah, that’s all it might take.”

Technically, his swing is solid, but this particular week is as much about the mental challenge. “I don’t work with anyone,” said Walker when asked about that. “I think being good mentally has been one of my strengths and it’s one of the reasons I’ve gotten this far. There are obviously a lot of times when things are not going technically that well and I’ve been able to pick  myself up in those times and hopefully I’ll do that tomorrow.”

Daniel Young, the other Scot in the field and making his debut in the event, followed a brace of 69s to open with a 74 to sit one behind Walker heading into the final round. A bogey-double bogey-par finish left him feeling a bit frazzled.

“It definitely feels a wee bit sore,” admitted Young. “I probably had the best warm up I’ve had all week, but I just didn’t play particularly well, to be honest, all day.

“I was hanging in, but I felt I struggled on the greens due to my pace being off again today versus yesterday when it was really good. The greens were pretty beat up on the back nine. It was nobody’s fault. It was the rain during the night and then traffic on them.”

The 33-year-old described a three-putt bogey at the 16th as a “real gut punch” and admitted that had led to more spillage at the next hole. “I probably let it affect me more than it should have,” he added of taking 5 at the short 17th. “It was a culmination of errors there, unfortunately.”

Sitting 27th at the start of the week, Young is now 31st on the projected list. “I just need to go out tomorrow and give it a whirl,” he said, having already secured a better Challenge Tour card category for next season. “There’s been a few low scores this week and, with it being soft, there’s definitely one there, so why not?”

Having equalled the course record with a ten-under-par 62, albeit with preferred lies in operation, Neergaard-Petersen leads on 21 under, one shot ahead of halfway pacesetter Angel Ayora from Spain, and is on course to jump above Englishman John Parry in the battle to be Challenge Tour No 1.

As for the card fight, Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan and Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist have both jumped into the top 22 on the back of their efforts so far, with Englishman Sam Hutsby and Dane Lucas Bjerregaard the two players currently set to be displaced.

A few twists and turns are still to come, though, because it’s now when it all suddenly gets very nervy.