Professional golf, or sport for that matter, is not all about winning trophies. Sometimes just earning the right to carry on playing at the top level is a success worth celebrating.
Just ask Alexander Knappe, who lives to fight another day after scraping through the top 116 on the money list to retain his DP World Tour card for next season.
After finishing in a tie for 36th at the Qatar Masters, a result that was good enough for 114th position on the Race to Dubai, the world number 456 struggled to get his words out.
"I was crying in my room this morning. I told you I didn't want to get emotional!"You must watch this @AlexKnappe interview after managing to keep his Tour card for next season 🙌💙#CBQMasters pic.twitter.com/QLPDp7Ot7MOctober 29, 2023
“I’m speechless, it was such a fight. I told you I don’t want to show any emotions,” said an emotional Knappe, who managed nine pars on the tougher back nine.
“I was crying in my room this morning. It was just hard, a hard day. I managed to get it done and I’ve got another season.”
The 34-year-old German earned a maiden season in the Race to Dubai after a breakthrough 2016 on the European Challenge Tour, where an incredible fortnight in China secured him third place in the Road to Oman Rankings.
Despite a successful day in Qatar, Knappe has endured a testing season, making just 12 cuts from his 32 starts on the DP World Tour.
His best result in 2023 was tied third, which came at the Thailand Classic in February, and he followed that up with another top ten at the Hero Indian Open the following week, results that gave him over €160,000 in prize money.
In the middle of the season, however, he suffered missed cut after missed cut as he struggled with his game.
However, he’ll be able to forget all that after surviving by the skin of his teeth on what was an extremely tense final day in the desert.
An exhausted Knappe said he needed “a lot of breathing” during the final round. He added: “I had a really great caddie out there, he's really good.”
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