Alejandro Cañizares and Zander Lombard shared the spoils on top of the leaderboard at the conclusion of this year’s European Qualifying School as 27 players earned European Tour cards.
Following six rounds at Lumine Golf Club in Spain, South Africa’s Lombard and Spain’s Canizares could not be separated on 24 under par, and as is customary in the case of a tie in the event, the duo were crowned joint winners with no play-off taking place.
On a day of high drama in Tarragona several players made big moves to secure their playing privileges on the European Tour for 2019. South Africa’s Louis de Jager was the first to seal his spot in the top 25 and ties, firing a bogey-free score of 66 to progress from Qualifying School for the first time in five attempts.
Also making late charges into the European Tour places were Italy’s Filippo Bergamaschi and Chile’s Hugo Leon. Bergamaschi birdied five of his closing eight holes to make the top 25 on the number, while Leon bagged his only birdie of the day on the 18th to also go through on the mark – which was 16 under par.
Three-time European Tour winner Marc Warren bounced back from a bogey on the 17th with a closing birdie to take the 19th card, while Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan – the only amateur to make the cut this year – also squeezed through after a final round of 72.
Former Amateur Champion Scott Gregory claimed the 12th card after coming through all three stages of Q-School this year – one of seven players to achieve the feat this season. The young Englishman posted a 19 under par total after six rounds to finish tied ninth and secure playing privileges on the top tier for the 2019 season.
Gregory carded a 92 in the opening round of this year’s US Open and was subsequently subjected to online abuse before suffering a near season-ending injury. But the 24-year-old from Hampshire has come out the other side better for the experience and now has a full season on the European Tour to look forward to.
“It’s been a tough year with injury and I didn’t have my best day at the US Open,” he said. “I probably came under some unfair criticism so to do this not only proves it to myself but it proves it to them. It keeps a lot of people quiet. It proved to me that I could do it, but I didn’t need proving.”
Full List of European Tour Qualifiers: Alejandro Cañizares; Zander Lombard; Jeff Winther; Kurt Kitayama; Romain Langasque; Niklas Lemke; Clément Sordet; Bernd Ritthammer; Ivan Cantero Gutierrez; Anton Karlsson; Masahiro Kawamura; Louis De Jager; Per Langfors; Nick Cullen; Guido Migliozzi; Deyen Lawson; Daniel Gavins; Marc Warren; Kristian Krogh Johannessen; Filippo Bergamaschi ; David Borda; Max Schmitt; Hugo Leon; Gavin Moynihan; Kristoffer Reitan; Ben Evans.