Gary Hurley (pictured) was one of three Irish players alongside Niall Kearney and Ronan Mullarney to advance to the third and final stage of Q-School in Spain. (Photo: NI Open)
On a weekend when Liam Nolan secured his DP World Tour card for 2027, three other Irish players have also kept their hopes alive by coming through Qualifying School to reach next week’s finals stage at the INFINITUM Resort in Spain.
Niall Kearney, Ronan Mullarney and Gary Hurley have all made it into next week’s final stage of the DP World Tour’s Q-School. The trio now face six gruelling rounds from November 6-11 across the Lakes and Hills courses at INFINTUM to decide the 15 players and ties who will earn playing opportunities on the DP World Tour.
Play-offs were required at all four venues to decide who progressed to Final Stage, two of which went on until Monday.
Kearney teed it up at Golf Las Pinaillas and closed with final round 69 for a 13 under total that was good enough to be tied 10th. Compatriots Thomas Higgins (-9), Mark Power (-4) and John-Ross Galbraith (L) all missed out.
Las Pinaillas was one of two venues that went through to Monday to decide the winner, but that was not a concern for Albert Boneta, who led the 19 players through to Final Stage on home soil thanks to a final-round 66. The five-under-par round saw him to 19 under for the week, good enough to win Second Stage by a shot, with Lars Van Meijel of the Netherlands in solo second. England’s George Bloor and Patrick Cover of the United States shared third on 17 under.
There was a six-way play-off on Monday morning to decide who earned the final four spots, with Yuvraj Sandhu, Jack Buchanan, Alexandre Vandermoten and David Lundgren earning spots, while talented young Spanish golfer Luis Masaveu had to settle for first reserve.
Mullarney was competing at Isla Canela Links where he raced home with a final round 64 – that contained no less than birdies - and up into a tie for fifth on 17 under. Conor Purcell (-9), Max Kennedy (-7) and Dermot McElroy (-2) all missed out.
Jerry Ji of the Netherlands went one better than his runner up finish at First Stage Qualifying by winning at Isla Canela, as the 26-year-old looks to go all the way this week and earn a DP World Tour card for the first time. Ji fired rounds of 66-65-64-67 to reach 22 under par, three clear of his nearest competitors, compatriot Nevill Ruiter and Norway’s Michael Mjaaseth.
Hurley went into battle at Fontanals in Girona and like Mullarney enjoyed a great closing round (65) to move up into tied 12th on nine-under. There was no joy for the other Irish player at the venue as Robert Moran missed out.
Australian golfer Anthony Quayle led after every round on his way to winning at Fontanals, holding a six-stroke lead entering the final round before eventually winning by two at 18 under par.
A Monday play-off was needed to decide the final qualifier that would make the relatively short journey down to Tarragona, with America’s Evan Knight overcoming England’s Giles Evans to get into the field at INFINTUM.
At Desert Springs Resort, the fourth Q-School venue, there was no joy for Alex Maguire or Paul McBride as they finished on 11-under and eight under to be tied 32nd and tied 51st respectively.