Dunne withdraws from Q-School with wrist injury
Paul Dunne in action for Europe in the EurAsia Cup in January 2018
Paul Dunne has withdrawn from this week’s European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage with a “ongoing wrist injury.”
The Greystones star (26) was scheduled to tee it up at Lumine Golf Club in Tarragona tomorrow with fellow Irishmen Jonny Caldwell, Gavin Moynihan, Niall Kearney, Robin Dawson and Michael Hoey.
Instead he reported today that he will be endeavouring to get to the bottom of a wrist problem.
“I won’t be playing this week,” Dunne said. “Have an ongoing wrist injury that’s gotten worse and I’m going to take some time to sort it out.”
It’s unclear how long he has been suffering with the injury and whether it will require surgery or simply needed rest and rehabilitation.
“I’m trying to get to the bottom of it ,” Dunne said.
The 2017 British Masters winner suffered a surprise loss of form over the second half of the season, missing 12 of his last 14 cuts to finish 124th in the Race to Dubai.
As a tournament winner, he could expect to get around 20 starts next season with invitations for events such as the British Masters and the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.
Players seeking invitations are usually expected to have played at the Qualifying School and Dunne would likely be exempt from this requirement due to his injury.
Despite an inconsistent start to the season, Dunne was 62nd in the Race to Dubai following his tie for fourth in the Made in Denmark event on May 26.
But he never pushed on and made just two more cuts.
“I wasn't losing patience just getting frustrated with not being able to hit the shots I was seeing,” he said after the Denmark event. “It had nothing to do with results or finishes.
"I’d just lost the feeling of pure shots. It was nice to hit a few again and finish strong. The main part of the season is only starting."
In the end, he played just 24 events and missed cuts in all the Rolex Series events he qualified to play —the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, the ASI Scottish Open, the BMW PGA or the Italian Open— proved costly.
A field of 156 will tee it up at the Lakes and Hills courses at Lumine on Friday with the top 25 and ties after six rounds earning European Tour cards.
The Category of Membership earned by successful graduates should not be regarded as providing "Full" playing rights on the European Tour. Greater opportunity will be available to higher ranked members such as tournament winners and top 110 from the previous Season's Race to Dubai.
Moreover, the final position earned within the top 25 and ties at the Qualifying School and the subsequent re- rank(s) during the Season will have a significant impact on resultant playing opportunities.
Over the last five years, the average number of tournament opportunities this Category has provided to successful graduates is as follows:
Winner of the Qualifying School 29 starts
25th ranked at the Qualifying School 19 starts
It is important to recognise, however, that this Category offers full playing rights on the European Challenge Tour when graduates do not qualify for the European Tour on any given week.
