Ryder Cup hero leads big names at DP World Tour Q School

The final stage of the DP World Tour’s gruelling Qualifying School is here.

A total field of 156 players will battle it out for 20 cards during a marathon battle in Spain this week.

Many players started chasing their dreams back in August, with nine 72-hole stroke play events taking place across seven countries in the First Stage. The players who made it through then took part in Second Stage, another 72-hole tournament at one of four Spanish courses.

Now, those qualifiers meet 62 DP World Tour and Challenge Tour players already exempt for the final stage, which takes place across six rounds at the Lakes Course and Hills Course in Tarragona.

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For those who started from square one, they will have to complete 252 holes to even have a chance of reaching European golf’s top table. But 108 holes is still quite the test of endurance at the INFINITUM venue this week, with a number of notable names taking on the challenge.

Edoardo Molinari, a three-time tour winner now serving as Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup vice-captain, is among the most popular and accomplished players in the field.

The Italian, who has won his card at Q School in 2015 and 2016, fought back tears after losing his playing rights following the final regular season event in South Korea last month.

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Molinari is joined by fellow former Ryder Cup players Stephen Gallagher, Chris Wood and Oliver Wilson at Q School. Other notable competitors include multiple tour winners Eddie Pepperell, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Tom Lewis, Marc Warren and James Morrison.

Among the veterans in this ever eclectic field are the future stars desperate to grasp their chance.

Each player will play two rounds on the Lakes and Hills courses before a 72-hole cut is made, with the remaining players battling it out to finish inside the top 20 in the final two rounds.

The top 20 and ties will earn their 2025 DP World Tour cards, reduced from 25 and ties in 2023.

Let the marathon commence.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.