Aaron Rai finished second at Desert Springs in October 2015. The Englishman did not take the trophy at the EuroPro Tour Final, but that week he secured a prize that was crucial for his career: promotion to the Challenge Tour. He hadn’t won, true, but he had achieved something even more important. It was the start of an unstoppable rise that ended with him a Major champion in 2026
Almost eleven years later, Rai lifted the Wanamaker at Aronimink, becoming the 2026 PGA Championship champion. Between one image and the other there is a lot of work. Always in his own way. With a personal and inimitable style. His story also helps us understand how much is at stake in those autumn weeks when the protagonists are not yet fighting for a Major, but are trying to find a place from which to get closer to one
Desert Springs is one of those lands of opportunity. It will soon once again be the setting for one of those events from 29 October to 1 November, when it hosts the second stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School. The Almería course will be one of the four Spanish venues for this qualifying stage, along with Isla Canela Links, Golf Las Pinaillas and Fontanals Golf Club. Four days to earn a ticket to the INFINITUM Final.
A play-off lost and a promotion won
Rai’s episode at Desert Springs does not correspond to the Qualifying School, but to the 2015 EuroPro Tour Final. At heart it is something very similar. The whole season was decided in a single tournament, in Almería, at the only desert course in Europe
The Englishman finished that competition at thirteen under par, tied with Jordan Smith and Daniel Gavins. What names. Smith is today a member of the PGA Tour and Gavins is a member of the DP World Tour. The magic of Desert Springs. The title was decided in a play-off that Smith won after four extra holes. Rai had to settle for a shared second place, but the result allowed him to finish the season among the five players who gained promotion to the Challenge. The loss of the trophy did not change the essential: he had achieved the objective
Rai himself recalled the importance of those years after winning at Aronimink. He spoke about the difficulty of progressing from development categories, of discovering the level that exists when you turn professional and of the long journey needed even to reach these championships. “Nothing is given away in this game, at whatever level you play,” he explained. Desert Springs belongs to that part of his story
Arnaus’s 61 and the other stories of the Qualifying School
The upcoming second stage will bring together around 75 professionals and amateurs, who will play 72 holes of stroke play, with no cut. European Tour cards will not be handed out directly: the top players will progress to the Final from 6 to 11 November. There, the top fifteen and ties will obtain a category to play on the DP World Tour and full status on the HotelPlanner Tour for 2027
Desert Springs‘s relationship with this semifinal dates back to 2017, when Matthew Baldwin prevailed at seventeen under par. That edition also produced one of the most striking performances by a Spanish player on this course: the 61 of Adri Arnaus, still an amateur. The Catalan posted eleven under par in the second round and took a decisive step towards the Final. He turned professional before playing that last qualifying stage. Since then, Arnaus has reached the top 50 in the world
In 2023, the German Jannik de Bruyn won this second stage at twenty-one under par. Ángel Ayora finished third, while Grégory Havret and Oliver Fisher secured their qualification after the play-off that decided the final places. Again, what names. One week thus brought together a youngster trying to make his way and players with long careers who needed to recover ground. That mix is one of the hallmarks of the School. It is something unique
The list of participants also includes Kenneth Ferrie and Luis Masaveu. More recently, Shubhankar Sharma was among the 24 qualifiers in 2025, an edition headed by Oliver Gillberg and Robin Sciot-Siegrist at nineteen under par and in which the last ticket was again decided in a play-off
This year’s examination will once again take place on the Indiana Course, a par-72 measuring 6,735 yards. The conversion of fairways and tees to paspalum, carried out in 2020, is part of the preparation of a course in which the club seeks firm and fast conditions. Its continuity as a venue is agreed with the DP World Tour until 2027
The next intake of hopefuls will arrive with a much more immediate objective than winning a Major: to play well enough over four days to be able to play another six. Rai‘s story guarantees nothing to any of them, but it does offer a reason to pay attention. In October 2015, at Desert Springs, the future PGA champion was not the man lifting the trophy either. Simply put, from Desert Springs there is one thing certain: dreams can come true
