Mark Power is only in the early days of cutting his teeth as a professional, but the 23-year-old Kilkenny golfer showed great fortitude in negotiating a route into next week’s DP World Tour Final Qualifying.
From outside the qualifying number of those heading into the final round of the second stage of Q-School at Fontanais in Spain, Power leapfrogged up the leaderboard with a 68 for 181 in tied-19th which got him into a seven-man playoff for the final four spots.
Power, a two-time Walker Cupper who turned professional after graduating from Wake Forest earlier this summer, then secured one of the places in final qualifying (which takes place in Tarragona, starting on Friday) where he will have a chance to earn a full tour card on the DP World Tour for next season.
The dramatic sudden-death playoff featured seven players, with Power – who made a good up and down at the first playoff hole despite having a mud ball and also parring the second before hitting a five-iron approach to 12 feet for birdie – advancing to the finals.
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Power was one of two Irish players to successfully come through stage two at Fontanais, where Ruairdhí McGee – who overcame an early double bogey in his round – closed with a 71 for 280 for tied-15th to also advance to the final but Laytown and Bettystown amateur Alex Maguire slipped to a closing 75 for 284 in tied-33rd to miss out.
[ Conor Purcell bids for full card on the DP World TourOpens in new window ]
With Power and McGee destined for Tarragona, their numbers could yet be increased: stage two qualifying competitions took place at four Spanish courses but high winds meant that the events in Los Pinnaillas (where Conor O’Rourke, Dermot McElroy and Paul Dunne are well placed to advance) and Desert Springs required an extra day and moved into a Monday finish.
Dubliner Conor Purcell, meanwhile, finished sixth in the Grand Final of the Challenge Tour in Mallorca – won by England’s Marco Penge – which moved him up seven places to 29th on the final order of merit and outside the top-20 who secured full cards on to next season’s DP World Tour.
“I believe in myself and I know what I am capable of,” said Penge, a two-time winner on the Challenge Tour this season, of winning the Grand Final and also topping the order of merit to secure a strong card for the main tour next season.
