JSmithers of the USA finished top of the rankings after winning two of this season’s five events, closely followed by compatriots golfx3, the 2020 European eTour champion, and Young46, who defeated Jsmithers in the final of last month’s Nedbank Golf Challenge eTour event.
Starting the season in dominant fashion, JSmithers secured his place in the Global Finals with back-to-back victories in the Portugal Masters and BMW International Open European eTour events.
fmagnets, runner-up to JSmithers in the Portugal Masters event, enters the Global Finals in fourth place on the rankings, just ahead of birchi of Germany. The American pair of Stuman66 and Shefuf share sixth, with Canadian BlaisAlex rounding out the top eight qualifiers for this year’s final event.
The Global Finals is a single elimination knockout format, with competitors playing on Torrey Pines, St Andrews, and Pebble Beach, and opening matches will be decided according to seeding. Number one ranked JSmithers will face BlaisAlex, while golfx3 will take on Shefuf. Completing the opening round matches, Young46 will play Stuman66 and fmagnets will tee it up against birchi in the opening round.
Speaking ahead of the Global Finals, JSmithers, said: “It’s really exciting to be in the Global Finals again. This year, I’m a little more excited. I remember not being comfortable in last year’s competition, but this time I am. I have high expectations for this Finals, I’m here to win.”
Defending Global Finals champion golfx3, who won the €30,000 first prize in last year’s inaugural Global Finals, added: “I’ve definitely been more excited for this year’s Finals than I was last year – this is the big one. It’s more tough this year though, all the players are better this season. I am more motivated and I know I have to play even better, I’ve been putting in a lot of practice.”
Launched by the European Tour in 2020, in partnership with esports specialists DreamHack Sports Games and Topgolf Entertainment Group, the European eTour has seen more than 750,000 entries and five million rounds played in its first two seasons.
