Edoardo Molinari birdied the final hole to secure a one stroke victory at the Final Stage of DP World Tour Qualifying School and become one of 21 players to earn their DP World Tour cards at INFINITUM in Spain.
Edoardo signed for a four under-par round of 67 to go with rounds of 65-61-72-68-66 and reach 29 under-par for the week – one clear of Swede Niklas Lemke, who secured his graduation with a seven under-par bogey-free 64 on the final day.
The three-time DP World Tour winner and Ryder Cup vice-captain returned to the tee on Thursday to conclude his fifth round after the entirety of day six was washed out due to rain in Tarragona, before batting it out at the top with Niklas during round six.
Edoardo, who had trailed Niklas by two strokes earlier in the day, was delighted to end the week on top and secure a swift return to the tour.
“It was very good to finish on top,” he said. “I’m relieved to come out on top in the end. I feel I kind of deserve it after the way I played all week. I think on such a long week, it is important to get off to a good start and obviously it was the ideal start after two days. I couldn’t have dreamt about being 17 under-par after two days.
“It means a lot to keep my card, especially as I’m 43 now. I’m towards the end of my career so any chance I get to play, I want to take it. It’s not been my best year but to finish like this and now to go home and be with my wife and kids, to spend time with the family, and then plan out next year, it’s something I’m looking forward to.”
American Davis Bryant fired a bogey-free nine under-par round of 62 to finish in third place on 27 under-par to secure playing status on the DP World Tour for the first time after coming through all three stages.
Joining Davis in coming through all three stages to earn their DP World Tour cards were Spaniard Albert Boneta, Australian Danny List and Dan Erickson, Ryggs Johnston and Corey Shaun from America.
There were storylines aplenty on the final day in Spain, with Armenian Jean Bekirian ending the week in 10th to become the first Armenian to hold a card on the DP World Tour, with a four under-par 67 on the final day seeing him make sure of playing privileges on the 2025 Race to Dubai.
“I have no words to describe it,” he said. “I am so happy because my mother and my father are here with me this week. I turned pro at 16 and I’ve done everything alone with my family and my team, so for me it’s a great achievement. What I’ve done the last two rounds, to have a DP World Tour card is a dream. It was very stressful today and I didn’t sleep yesterday, but today I played my best golf of the week. I’m proud to have played the golf I did under that pressure.”
South African Wilco Nienaber saved his best round of the week for last, signing for an eight under-par 63 to climb into the graduation spots, with an eagle at the closing hole enough to book Italian Gregorio de Leo’s place on the DP World Tour next season.
Dutchman Wil Besseling made birdies on hole 16, 17 and 18 to earn his card in dramatic fashion, and Danish amateur Jacob Skov Olesen concluded a memorable week by finishing in a share of 18th alongside Wil to make sure of his graduation.
Meanwhile, Yorkshiremen Josh Berry and Ben Schmidt secured their cards with 10th and 16th place finishes respectively.
The final leaderboard can be found here.