“If I have to go to Q School, I will”: Aphibarnrat on tour card fight

Kiradech Aphibarnrat faces a fight to retain his DP World Tour status, and has vowed to go to Q School if he needs to.

The Thai star currently sits 161st in the DP World Tour’s season long rankings, needing a heroic result in this week’s Portugal Masters to secure playing privileges for next year.

Speaking on the DP World Tour’s player blog, the 33-year-old admitted that he’s desperate to continue playing on the tour he describes as his second home.

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“I’m really battling to work my way into the top 110 in the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex and that’s the reason that I’ve played in the last six events, as well as this week,” he said.

“I have no choice at the moment as I’m trying to remain on the DP World Tour. I don’t know how it will work out but I’m trying to do everything that I can.”

The four-time DP World Tour winner went on to say that if he can’t produce the result he needs, he’ll go to Qualifying School in an effort to re-gain his playing status.

“If I have to go to the Q School, I will do that. The DP World Tour is where my career started, I got into the top-30 in the world because of the DP World Tour and I feel every time I come back here, everybody cares about me, it’s like a family.”

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The fan favourite also detailed how he considered giving the game up while playing on the PGA Tour.

“I thought about giving up,” he said. 

“I’d been talking to my family and my dad said, ‘it’s not working, if you don’t feel comfortable why do you still do it? If you’re not enjoying working, just quit’. 

“I was thinking of early retirement but as long as I still enjoy this game and my work, that is the main reason I still play. I still talk to my dad every week about how it is going and how life is.”

The 33-year-old has showed promising form in recent weeks, including a top-ten in Madrid. However, he will need his best result of the year in Portugal to have a chance of earning his card for 2023.

Currently, the cut-off for retaining status for next year is the top-117 on the season long DP World Tour rankings.