Freddy Schott eagled the final hole to secure a two stroke victory at the Final Stage of DP World Tour Qualifying School to become one of 33 players to earn their DP World Tour cards at INFINITUM.
The German posted a six under par round of 65 to finish on 27 under par for the week, two shots ahead of Italian Filippo Celli.
The 22-year-old, who finished 144th in the season-long Race to Dubai in partnership with Rolex Rankings, was delighted to come out on top at the marathon six round Final Stage event and admits regaining top tier privileges means everything to him.
“I’m unbelievably happy,” he said. “I knew it was going to come down to the final few holes. I had a chip-in on 14, made a good birdie on 16 and then the eagle putt dropping on 18 just made it a really good week.
“I wasn’t really thinking about winning it but then after three or four days, I thought I might as well go for it and so I did.
“I couldn’t have imagined that after last year I wouldn’t be back on the DP World Tour. I’ve made some great friendships there this year and it’s just amazing to play on the DP World Tour. That was my only goal this week.”
Belgian Matthis Besard fired a closing six under par round of 65 to finish in third place on 23 under par alongside overnight leader Sebastian Friedrichsen from Denmark and Dutchman Darius van Driel.
Two-time DP World Tour winner, Tom Lewis, will also return to Golf’s Global Tour after turning his week around with a ten under par 61 on day four. Rounds of 67-65 followed for the Englishman, and he was delighted to come through a nervy week in Tarragona.
“This means a lot to me,” he said. “I’ve had some up and down moments in my career, and hopefully this can start a new path for me and I can keep building from here.
“To have played as well as I did on the front nine today with four birdies in a row that just settled the nerves on the back nine for me.”
“I’ve been in these positions before and got excited and took my foot off the pedal and hopefully I can learn from that and keep moving forward and take the opportunities when I get them.”
There were storylines aplenty on the final day in Spain as New Zealand’s Sam Jones, Belgian Besard, English amateur Joshua Berry, Danish duo Jonathan Gøth-Rasmussen and Søren Broholt Lind, England’s Joe Dean and American James Nicholas each completed all three stages of Qualifying School to earn their DP World Tour cards.
Five-time DP World Tour winner Darren Fichardt secured his return to the top tier, as did four-time DP World Tour winner Kiradech Aphibarnrat after carding an exceptional seven under par 64 on the final day. Two-time DP World Tour winners Renato Paratore and Kristoffer Broberg also secured their card.
Spaniard Sebastian Garcia began the day in 24th position but produced a bogey-free nine under par 62 to finish the week in eighth place, and Englishman Garrick Porteous eagled the last the secure his card in dramatic fashion.
The final leaderboard can be found here, with the top 25 and ties receiving coveted DP World Tour cards.
Final Stage Qualifiers
Freddy Schott (GER)
Filippo Celli (ITA)
Sebastian Friedrichsen
Darius van Driel
Matthis Besard
Sam Jones
Tom Lewis
Sebastian Garcia
Haydn Barron
Kristian Krogh Johannessen
Jack Davidson
Jacques Kruyswijk
Renato Paratore
Andrew Wilson
Kiradech Aphibarnrat
David Ravetto
Pieter Moolman
Garrick Porteous
Nicolo Galletti
Joshua Berry
Benjamin Rusch
Jonathan Gøth-Rasmussen
Kristoffer Broberg
Rhys Enoch
Darren Fichardt
Jannik de Bruyn
Pedro Figueiredo
Søren Broholt Lind
Nicolai von Dellingshausen
Lauri Ruuska
Alfredo Garcia-Heredia
Joe Dean
James Nicholas
