Jonathan Caldwell kept his hopes alive of winning back his DP World Tour card at the Qualifying School Final Stage in Spain.

But there was agony for Mark Power and Conor O’Rourke as they missed the 72-hole cut by a shot and were joined on the road home by Derry’s Ruaidhri McGee, Ballymena’s Dermot McElroy and Portmarnock’s Conor Purcell.

Caldwell, who won the Scandinavian Mixed in 2021 and was Rory McIlroy’s foursomes partner in the 2007 Walker Cup, fired a five-under 67 at the Hills Course at Infinitum in Tarragona to move inside the top 25 and ties who will be awarded cards after two more rounds.

The Clandeboye veteran (39) made six birdies to move up from 36th to tied 20th on 11-under heading into today’s fifth round at the Lakes Course.

But it was a case of so near and yet so far for Mount Juliet’s Power (23) and Naas man O’Rourke (32) on the tricky Hills layout.

Playing catch up after an opening 76, two-time Walker Cup Power star Power needed a 68 to make the top 70 and ties qualify for the last two rounds.

But after making five birdies and a bogey in 13 holes to move inside the cut line, he three-putted his final hole from 30 feet and made bogey to miss out by a shot on four-under after a 69.

“I’m gutted,” said Power, who made 17 birdies over his last three rounds.  “The golf I’ve played after the first round I’m very proud of. I was extremely steady with only a handful of mistakes. I felt like I did more than enough to be playing the last couple of days.  

“A really disappointing three-putt from 30 feet on my last hole after hitting a really nice six-iron in right down the flag. It hurts, but I’ll try to learn as much as I can from it and push on.

“I played so well today and could have given myself a nice cushion coming down the last few if a couple of putts had dropped but I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead.”

It was a similar tale for O’Rourke, who carded a bogey-free 68 but also missed the cut by the minimum.

“I’m proud and upbeat about how I performed,” said O’Rourke after rounds of 72, 74, 68 and 68.

“Obviously, I had a bad finish on day two, but I’m proud of how I bounced back with two good rounds.  

“The key is to keep improving and this year has been a step in the right direction. I’ll dust myself off, make a good plan and get after it again in 2024.  

“I'm frustrated and obviously a little bit hurt but that's the name of the game. It’s win or learn, I guess, so I’ll be back at it.”

McGee missed the cut by seven shots on two-over after a 72 while McElroy shot a one-under 71 and Purcell a three-over 75 to finish tied 131st on four-over.

Italy’s Filippo Celli extended his lead to three strokes by carding a five-under 66 to lead on 21-under from

Denmark’s Sebastian Friedrichsen on a day when three-time DP World Tour winner Tom Lewis carded a bogey-free, 10-under 61 to climb from outside the cut mark into a share of 17th on 12-under.

DP World Tour Qualifying School, INFINITUM, Tarragona (Lakes Course Par 71, Hills Course Par 72)

After four rounds

265 F Celli (Ita) 68 65 66 66,

268 S Friedrichsen (Den) 67 66 68 67,

269 J Davidson (Wal) 67 66 70 66,

270 S Garcia (Esp) 67 65 69 69,

271 P Moolman (RSA) 71 66 70 64, J Goth-Rasmussen (Den) 69 65 68 69,

272 S Jones (Nzl) 68 69 70 65, M Besard (Bel) 70 67 70 65, D Van Driel (Ned) 70 66 70 66, F Schott (Ger) 68 63 75 66, J Berry (Am) (Eng) 67 68 70 67,

273 H Barron (Aus) 67 72 70 64, K Johannessen (Nor) 68 67 73 65, N Galletti (USA) 71 69 67 66, G Boyd (Eng) 70 65 71 67, B Follett-Smith (Zim) 69 65 72 67,

274 T Lewis (Eng) 71 69 73 61, N Von Dellingshausen (Ger) 71 66 69 68, K Broberg (Swe) 69 66 70 69,

275 Jonathan Caldwell (Nir) 74 68 66 67, J Kruyswijk (RSA) 70 67 72 66, J Dean (Eng) 69 72 67 67,

276 G Mason (Eng) 70 71 64 71, D Ravetto (Fra) 71 70 70 65, M Quiros (Esp) 71 70 68 67, R Enoch (Wal) 75 65 69 67, O Lindell (Fin) 70 70 69 67, J Moscatel Nachshon (Esp) 70 69 70 67, J Catlin (USA) 73 65 71 67, H Hopewell (Aus) 73 65 69 69,

277 G Porteous (Eng) 69 69 73 66, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 71 70 67 69, G Bourdy (Fra) 71 68 71 67, L Vacarisas (Esp) 72 69 68 68, J Nicholas (USA) 68 71 69 69, A Wilson (Eng) 69 70 69 69, R Paratore (Ita) 73 64 71 69, D Germishuys (RSA) 72 66 69 70, D Young (Sco) 68 69 70 70, J De Bruyn (Ger) 66 71 67 73,

278 C Blomstrand (Swe) 68 70 74 66, P Katich (Ger) 71 70 70 67, S Broholt Lind (Den) 72 67 71 68, F Mory (Fra) 69 68 73 68, A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) 69 68 70 71, D Fichardt (RSA) 69 67 71 71, J Andersen (Den) 64 70 73 71,

279 L Ruuska (Fin) 76 66 67 70, Q Vidal (Esp) 70 69 71 69, J Gumberg (USA) 69 69 71 70, P Figueiredo (Por) 70 68 70 71, P Bovari (Ita) 71 66 71 71,

280 B Thornberry (USA) 67 72 76 65, M Warren (Sco) 69 72 73 66, P Pineau (Fra) 78 66 67 69, B Rusch (Sui) 72 72 68 68, R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 74 64 73 69, M Giboudot (Am) (Fra) 70 69 71 70, H Brown (Den) 74 65 70 71, H Magnus (Isl) 66 69 74 71,

281 T Shadbolt (Eng) 74 72 64 71, M Kim (Kor) 73 69 66 73, O Hundeboll (Den) 72 69 66 74, A Levy (Fra) 75 71 67 68, J Senekal (RSA) 70 72 67 72, R McEvoy (Eng) 71 72 68 70, S Hutsby (Eng) 70 72 68 71, R Kleu (Sui) 68 73 69 71, T Aiken (RSA) 73 68 71 69, W Besseling (Ned) 73 67 72 69, M Lindberg (Swe) 71 69 72 69, L Van Meijel (Ned) 77 68 70 66, S Brown (Eng) 72 71 70 68, A Venter (RSA) 71 70 70 70, C Mckinney (Aus) 71 69 71 70, M Couvra (Fra) 70 70 69 72, R Neergaard-Petersen (Den) 74 64 71 72, M Simonsen (Den) 70 66 70 75

CUT

282 J Warren (Aus) 78 68 65 71, E Smylie (Aus) 73 70 67 72, S Szirmak (Can) 72 70 67 73, C Howie (Sco) 70 72 67 73, Conor O'Rourke (Irl) 72 74 68 68, Mark Power (Irl) 76 68 69 69, M Hirmer (Ger) 71 67 75 69, T Pulkkanen (Fin) 66 69 78 69, M Hammer (Ger) 72 68 71 71, E Flores (USA) 70 68 73 71,

283 N Kristensen (Den) 72 71 66 74, A Ayora (Esp) 72 72 68 71, J Rutherford (Eng) 68 70 77 68, H Townsend (Swe) 73 71 69 70, C Fyfe (Sco) 73 70 69 71, J Lagergren (Swe) 70 73 69 71, W Dingle (RSA) 70 70 73 70, O Farr (Wal) 69 70 74 70, C McNeill (Sco) 68 67 77 71,

284 O Gillberg (Swe) 76 69 65 74, H Ronneblad (Swe) 78 71 67 68, L Harries (Wal) 75 68 67 74, J Ruth (Eng) 73 68 68 75, J Brooks (Eng) 72 67 77 68, B Easton (RSA) 73 70 69 72, O Roberts (Sco) 69 73 69 73, M Sanchez (Aus) 72 67 76 69, R Roussel (Fra) 70 71 73 70, A Wennstam Holmqvist (Swe) 72 69 73 70, M Decottignies-Lafon (Fra) 66 74 74 70, P Newcomb (USA) 72 69 74 69,

285 W Nienaber (RSA) 71 76 66 72, M Gandas (Ind) 71 70 78 66, a Errazuriz (Chi) 73 71 67 74, A Quiros (Esp) 76 69 69 71, J Wang (Kor) 74 71 70 70, O Farrell (Eng) 69 74 71 71, M Madsen (Den) 68 71 75 71,

286 C Madey (USA) 74 73 66 73, T Gouveia (Por) 75 73 67 71, B Schmidt (Eng) 71 70 74 71,

287 V Meyer (Ger) 74 70 67 76, N Regner (Aut) 74 68 67 78, C Pigem (Esp) 73 69 71 74, O Edwards (Wal) 75 69 72 71, G Havret (Fra) 70 72 73 72,

288 B Virto (Esp) 73 69 68 78, Ruaidhri McGee (Irl) 69 74 73 72, E Harmeling (USA) 74 69 74 71,

289 L Brown (RSA) 78 71 70 70, G Evans (Eng) 72 70 70 77, J Marchesani (Aus) 75 69 72 73,

290 Conor Purcell (Irl) 76 72 67 75, A Daydou (Fra) 78 71 70 71, Z Bai (Chn) 72 71 71 76, Dermot McElroy (Nir) 71 76 72 71,

291 M Oshrine (USA) 69 80 68 74, a Zemmer (Ita) 73 73 72 73, A Lautee (Aus) 73 71 72 75, Y Sandhu (Ind) 73 74 73 71, D Erickson (USA) 72 70 73 76, A Spencer (USA) 71 70 73 77, P Launer Baek (Den) 70 73 76 72, O Fisher (Eng) 74 68 76 73,

292 T Collet (USA) 73 74 70 75, C Guichard (Fra) 69 75 70 78, K Sterbinsky (USA) 72 74 73 73, J Ashfield (Am) (Wal) 70 69 79 74,

293 D Howell (Eng) 76 73 71 73, J Hawksby (Eng) 72 69 78 74,

295 M Toorop (Ned) 74 77 67 77,

296 R Lumsden (Sco) 75 70 78 73,

299 Z Jing (Chn) 75 77 68 79,

300 J Hansen (Den) 74 75 78 73,

303 F Nilehn (Swe) 77 75 74 77,

Out G Fernandez-Castaño (Esp) 72 71 76 Rt, B Windred (Aus) 70 70 Rt, J Axelsen (Den) 78 73 Wd