Galway’s Liam Nolan (fifth from right) was one of the 15 graduates to earn their DP World Tour cards for the 2027 season. (Photo: Getty/HotelPlanner Tour)
Ireland will have another player on the DP World Tour in 2027 after Galway’s Liam Nolan stuck to the task at the HotelPlanner Tour’s season-ending Rolex Grand Final in Mallorca.
Nolan, who enjoyed his maiden professional win in Abu Dhabi recently, closed out the week with a five-under 67 to finish tied 14th on 11 under 277 (€8,750). The crucial numbers for Nolan were to remain inside the top 15 on the order of merit who secure DP World Tour card for next season. Starting the week in 10th, his tied 11th in Mallorca meant he finished the season 10th in the overall standings.
Nolan was obviously delighted to get the job done and had plenty of people he wanted to thank. “I need to thank my parents first, they put in all the effort through junior golf, all those hours driving me round the country playing in tournaments,” said Nolan.
“I want to thank my girlfriend Aoife, she’s been really supportive, my caddie Sean, one of my best mates and I definitely couldn’t have done it without him. MY coaches, Kenny and Michael at home, and finally my manager Shane and all the managers at Progressive.
They’ve been so good to me, helping me manage professional golf, you know it’s not the easiest thing to do and they’ve played such a big role.”
Nolan has worked hard all season and is not able to enjoy time to reflect on what lies ahead with a DP World Tour card. “It feels unreal. All the hard work that’s been put in, it’s kind of come full circle and I’m happy with the way I’ve played this year. It’s resulted in a massive goal of mine which was to play on the DP World Tour.”
The overall tournament was won by France’s Julien Sale who produced a dominant final round performance to secure victory at the Grand Final, while his closest pursuer Hamish Brown from Denmark topped the Road to Mallorca Rankings.
Sale, who was guaranteed of promotion to the DP World Tour before the season finale in Mallorca, posted his second 65 of the week to reach 22 under par, four strokes clear of the Brown, who narrowly held onto solo second to capture the season-long title.
Sale ends the year second on the Rankings and will now step up to Golf’s Global Tour for the first time in his career. He becomes the fifth player from France to win the Grand Final after Clément Sordet (2017), Benjamin Hebert (2014), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (2007) and Nicolas Joakimides (1997).
"Coming this week, I didn’t have much stress because I knew I was inside the top 15 and the goal was to and win the tournament and obviously try to finish number one on the ranking and to do that," he said.
"I was going to have fun already this morning for tonight but now I'm going to enjoy it even more with my family here.
"It was a tough day today because obviously a lot of pressure and I knew that if you guys behind me, were going to play well and try to catch me but I'm really happy with how I played."
Brown becomes the fifth Dane to win the Road to Mallorca Rankings after Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (2024), Marcus Helligkilde (2021), Joachim B Hansen (2018) and Thomas Bjørn (1995).
The 27-year-old posted a closing five under par 67 in Alcúdia to reach 18 under par for the week and held onto solo second after South African MJ Daffue saw his birdie putt slide by on the 72nd hole.
"It means a lot," said Brown. "It's been a proper grind again today, just like last Sunday. Ultimately, I couldn't win today thanks to a good Frenchman who played extremely well. It’s just a day where you can't really control your thoughts. All you're thinking about is what they need to do or what's going to happen.
"It gives me a lot of confidence. I had a tough year last year on the DP World Tour, but I wasn't too far away, I thought, and it's just moments throughout a season that needs to go your way and I'm not I'm not scared of it for next year. I'm quite looking forward to it because I know what it what it is now. I know what I need to do and not to do. I'm trying to just expect more of myself."