Spain’s Ivan Cantero boosted his chances of securing his DP World Tour card for 2025 with an opening 66 at the Genesis Championship in Korea, which took him to the top of the leaderboard at the final event of the 2024 season.
The final tournament of the Back 9 will determine who will retain their playing rights for next year, with the top 114 after the event slated to keep their card.
The Spaniard began the week on the bubble in 117th place, but he rolled in seven birdies and dropped a solitary shot to set the pace at six under par at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea.
Cantero needed a fast start in Incheon and he obliged with a stunning approach to three feet at the first to immediately get into the red numbers.
He was two under through three when taking advantage of the par-five third and continued his momentum with back-to-back birdies from the sixth.
The world number 454 reached the turn in 31 thanks to a fifth birdie at the ninth and when he followed that up with an 11-foot effort at the tenth, he was at six under.
Cantero blotted his scorecard when he dropped his only shot at the 16th, but he responded in style by landing his tee-shot at the par-three 17th within six feet to return to six under and set the clubhouse lead.
Home duo Byeong Hun An and Hongtaek Kim, Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat, South Africa’s Casey Jarvis, Scotland’s Scott Jamieson, Swede Jonas Blixt and Englishman Richard Mansell sit one adrift, with a further ten players at four under.
Those players include defending champion Pablo Larrazábal and fellow Spaniards Alejandro Del Rey and Manuel Elvira, Korean pair Tom Kim and Seunghyuk Kim, New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier, Italian Renato Paratore, Dane Søren Kjeldsen, Germany’s Marcel Schneider and Englishman Todd Clements.
Eddie Pepperell’s hopes of retaining his full card for 2025 already look slim, with the Englishman opening up with a two-over-par 74, which sees him in tie for 90th.
He currently sits at 124th in the Race to Dubai rankings, with only the top 114 players guaranteed to retain their cards for next season.
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