European Tour Q-School is always a cert for drama and great golf in equal measure and this year's edition didn't disappoint, so who got their 2018 card and who missed out?
European Tour Q-School is always a cert for drama and great golf in equal measure and this year's edition at Lumine Golf Club in Spain didn't disappoint, so who got their 2018 card and who missed out?
Top 25 & Ties
Claiming their cards were a string of old and new faces, led by Englishman Sam Horsefield on an impressive -27 for his six rounds over Lumine's Lakes and Hills courses. Eight shots back in T2nd was former BMW PGA Championship winner Anders Hansen. Other standout names getting their 2018 European Tour cards included seven-time winner Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Kristoffer Broberg, Felipe Aguilar and Brits Ben Evans, Matthew Nixon, Mark Foster, Ross McGowan, James Heath and Laurie Canter.
There will also be a lot of happy fans after Jonathan Thomson (pictured above) shot a closing two-under-par at European Tour Q-School to secure his card. The Englishman - also know as 'Jigger' - had to start his journey at Stage One Qualifying at Frilford Heath back in October. Much more impressively than that was his successful five year battle with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia when he was just seven. He used to dream of playing on tour back then and now Thomson, who only turned pro last September, will stride out on tour at 6ft 9" as the tallest player out there.
Another of the moments of the day came when South African Justin Walters' dream appeared to be over when he bogeyed the 17th, only for him to then eagle the par 5 18th on the Lakes course to tie for 25th position. It was a similar story for Thai youngster Jazz Janewattananond who chipped in at the last for eagle to also tie 25th position alongside a total of nine golfers who finished on -13.
Try Again Next Year
After the four round cut we'd already waved goodbye to some notable names, including six-time European Tour winner Simon Dyson, three-time winner Richard Green and 2008 Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson. Missing out was also John Parry, Matt Ford, Hennie Otto, Jose-Filipe Lima, Johan Carlsson, Mortum Orum Madesen and Florian Fritsch, the German pro famous for never flying to his events.
That left just 74 players to battle it out over the closing 36 holes for the 25 (and ties) tour cards. At this stage two-time winners Alejandro Canizares and Simon Khan both came up short. They were joined by Tom Lewis, Stuart Manley, Steven Tiley, Steve Webster, Nathan Kimsey, Marus Armitage, Scott Henry, Gary Stal, Julien Quesne and Johan Edfors, among others.