title: 2006 Challenge Tour graduates
text: # 2006 Challenge Tour graduates
  
  This is a list of players who graduated from the Challenge Tour in 2006. The top 20 players on the Challenge Tour's money list in 2006 earned their European Tour card for 2007.
  
  | | 2006 Challenge Tour | 2006 Challenge Tour | 2007 European Tour | 2007 European Tour | 2007 European Tour | 2007 European Tour | 2007 European Tour |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Player | Money list rank | Earnings (€) | Starts | Cuts made | Best finish | Money list rank | Earnings (€) |
  | Mark Pilkington | 1 | 119,152 | 33 | 13 | T6 | 136 | 175,085 |
  | Johan Axgren | 2 | 105,699 | 29 | 12 | T15 | 170 | 118,696 |
  | Alex Norén* | 3 | 99,631 | 28 | 13 | T3 | 63 | 472,336 |
  | Martin Kaymer* | 4 | 93,321 | 29 | 16 | T2 | 41 | 754,691 |
  | James Hepworth | 5 | 84,236 | 30 | 11 | T16 | 164 | 136,173 |
  | Kyron Sullivan* | 6 | 83,364 | 30 | 12 | T12 | 131 | 180,643 |
  | Rafael Echenique* | 7 | 82,737 | 28 | 12 | 2 | 113 | 227,069 |
  | Juan Parrón* | 8 | 71,089 | 27 | 9 | T13 | 183 | 81,554 |
  | Sam Walker | 9 | 69,853 | 31 | 12 | T4 | 80 | 341,293 |
  | Marcus Higley* | 10 | 67,851 | 31 | 13 | T2 | 151 | 151,185 |
  | Shaun P. Webster | 11 | 65,536 | 25 | 7 | T18 | 204 | 53,786 |
  | Gary Lockerbie* | 12 | 64,073 | 30 | 13 | T5 | 144 | 162,709 |
  | Rafa Cabrera-Bello* | 13 | 62,849 | 33 | 16 | T18 | 134 | 178,927 |
  | James Heath* | 14 | 60,346 | 29 | 11 | T4 | 152 | 150,758 |
  | Gareth Davies* | 15 | 60,189 | 25 | 9 | T9 | 181 | 86,887 |
  | Lee S. James | 16 | 59,704 | 23 | 7 | T10 | 202 | 56,775 |
  | Jean-Baptiste Gonnet* | 17 | 59,343 | 24 | 13 | T2 | 90 | 292,379 |
  | Álvaro Quirós* | 18 | 57,278 | 13 | 7 | Win | 102 | 259,350 |
  | Mads Vibe-Hastrup | 19 | 52,485 | 24 | 15 | Win | 61 | 482,549 |
  | Adrien Mörk* | 20 | 52,136 | 18 | 4 | T46 | 271 | 12,020 |
  
  * European Tour rookie in 2007 T = Tied
  
   The player retained his European Tour card for 2008 (finished inside the top 117).  The player did not retain his European Tour Tour card for 2008, but retained conditional status (finished between 118-149).  The player did not retain his European Tour card for 2008 (finished outside the top 149).
  
  The players ranked 16th through 20th were placed below the Qualifying School graduates on the exemption list, and thus could improve their status by competing in Qualifying School. Álvaro Quirós improved his status in this way.
  
  ## Winners on the European Tour in 2007
  
  | No. | Date | Player | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runners-up |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | 10 Dec 2006 | Álvaro Quirós | Alfred Dunhill Championship | −13 (74-66-68-67=275) | 1 stroke | Charl Schwartzel |
  | 2 | 14 Oct | Mads Vibe-Hastrup | Open de Madrid Valle Romano | −16 (69-69-67-67=272) | 3 strokes | Alejandro Cañizares |
  
  ## Runners-up on the European Tour in 2007
  
  | No. | Date | Player | Tournament | Winner | Winning score | Runner-up score |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | 18 Mar | Rafael Echenique | TCL Classic | Chapchai Nirat | −22 (61-66-68-71=266) | −19 (64-69-68-68=269) |
  | 2 | 17 Jun | Marcus Higley | Open de Saint-Omer | Carl Suneson | −8 (67-70-70-69=276) | −5 (67-70-71-71=279) |
  | 3–4 | 14 May | Jean-Baptiste Gonnet | Scandinavian Masters | Mikko Ilonen | −6 (67-72-67-68=274) | −4 (67-70-71-68=276) |
  | 3–4 | 14 May | Martin Kaymer | Scandinavian Masters | Mikko Ilonen | −6 (67-72-67-68=274) | −4 (67-68-68-73=276) |
  