McKibbin on the verge of winning card as eight Irish retain options at Q-School
Tom McKibbin tees off during the Rolex Callenge Tour Grand Final at Alcanada Golf Club in Mallorca. Picture: Niall O'Shea
Holywood teenager Tom McKibbin is on the brink of clinching his DP World Tour card after carding a rollercoaster 70 in the third round of the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A in Mallorca.
A brace of 73s saw the Newtownabbey star projected to fall from 15th to a tenuous 19th in the Rankings race for 20 DP World Tour cards on Sunday.
But McKibbin carded six birdies and four bogeys at Club de Golf Alcanada today to move up to tied 17th on level par, seven shots off the lead and within touching distance of becoming the youngest Irish player to win a tour card since 18-year-old Rory McIlroy in 2007.
The Co Down player is projected 17th in the Road to Mallorca standings and a solid final round will be enough to clinch his place in the big leagues next year.
England’s Nathan Kimsey and South Africa’s Bryce Easton shot six-under 66s to lead by a shot from England’s Matthew Baldwin on seven-under-par, while Kinsale’s Jon Murphy will be heading for the Final Stage of Q-School in Tarragona next week after carding a level par 72 to share 30th on four-over.
Jonathan Caldwell and Paul Dunne are also exempt into the Final Stage and while 12 Irishmen hoped to join them via this week’s Q-School Second Stage at four venues across Spain, just eight remain with their options intact heading into Sunday’s final round.
West Waterford’s Gary Hurley is the best placed, tied for sixth on seven-under in the race for 23 places at Emporda in Girona after a third-round 69.
Stuart Grehan is just two shots outside the top 23 on two under after a 70 at the Catalan venue, while Portmarnock’s Conor Purcell is also in with a shout after a 69 left him within three shots of the mark on one under.
A one-under 70 left Cormac Sharvin tied ninth on six-under in the fight to make the top 22 at Las Colinas Golf & Country Club in Alicante, where Dermot McElroy is just three shots outside the mark on level par despite shooting 74.
Rosapenna’s Ruaidhri McGee and The K Club’s Conor O’Rourke are also in position, tied for 14th in the race to make the top 23 at Desert Springs in Almeria.
McGee shot a 69, and O’Rourke birdied the last to card a level par 72 to join him in seven-under.
At Isla Canela Links in Huelva, Naas’ Jonathan Yates is just a shot outside the mark in a low-scoring event on 11-under after carding a four-under 68 in the third round.
The Final Stage begins at Infinitum in Tarragona next Friday with the top 25 after six gruelling rounds earning DP World Tour cards for 2023.
DP World Tour Qualifying School, Second Stage
Emporda Golf, Girona, Spain (23 spots, -4)
T6 Gary Hurley 66 71 69 (-7)
T28 Stuart Grehan 67 74 70 (-2)
T34 Conor Purcell 74 69 69 (-1)
T59 Paul McBride 71 765 71 (+5)
Las Colinas Golf & Country Club, Alicante (22 spots, -3)
T9 Cormac Sharvin 69 68 70 (-6)
T35 Dermot McElroy 71 68 74 (Par)
WD Niall Kearney 70 72 76 (+5)
Desert Springs Golf Club, Almeria (23 spots, -6)
T14 Ruaidhri McGee 69 71 69 (-7)
T14 Conor O’Rourke 68 69 72 (-7)
T59 Robert Moran (am) 77 73 71 (+5)
T59 Gavin Moynihan 76 74 71 (+5)
Isla Canela Links, Huelva (22 spots, -12)
T25 Jonathan Yates 68 69 68 (-11)
