The Second Stage of DP World Tour Qualifying School will take place in Spain this week and will be followed directly by the Final Stage where 156 players will vie for a spot on one of world golf’s most storied tours.

The 2023 DP World Tour kicks off with the co-sanctioned $2 million Fortinet Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland from November 24-27 followed a week later by the ISPS HANDA Australian Open at Victoria and Kingston Heath golf clubs, further providing Australian players with a springboard to playing opportunities in Europe.

Due to global travel restrictions, 2022 marks the first time in three years that the DP World Tour has conducted a full qualifying school and never have Australian players had such direct access.

In addition to the top three on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit receiving full cards for the 2023 season – being Jed Morgan, Blake Windred and Andrew Dodt – the next three in Aaron Pike, Dimitrios Papadatos and Louis Dobbelaar received direct entry to Final Stage.

The next seven on the Order of Merit not otherwise exempt inside the top 30 were granted a spot at Second Stage and seven players advanced through the historic First Stage of qualifying conducted at Rosebud Country Club, the first DP World Tour qualifying leg held outside of Europe.

For players such as Tom Power Horan, the chance to play his way into Second Stage without leaving his home state of Victoria was impossible to pass up.

“Q School is never going to be cheaper,” said Power Horan, who finished second to James Marchesani at Rosebud in September, a tournament originally slated to be played in 2020.

“It’s a great opportunity. As soon as it was back on, I was like, this is definitely what I want to do, for sure.

“Q schools are very expensive. To have that first stage in Australia, and then just do one trip to Spain, it’s a lot more accessible for the guys that are obviously coming from Australia.”

Now based on the Sunshine Coast, South Australian Jack Thompson is one of the seven who will attend thanks to their Order of Merit finish for the 2021/2022 season.

Further Q School pathways to the DP World Tour and Korn Ferry Tour in the US were announced in January as part of the PGA of Australia’s strategic partnership with both the DP World Tour and PGA Tour.

Thompson had already won the Gippsland Super 6 when that announcement was made and monitored his Order of Merit position closely as the season progressed.

Rather than pretending to ignore the bigger picture, Thompson has been working with noted mental performance psychologist Jonah Oliver on embracing the opportunity that is now presented to him.

“After not winning (the Order of Merit) the goal was to just try and place as high up as possible,” said Thompson.

“The higher you finish, the more opportunities elsewhere as well, whether that be Korn Ferry Tour or whatnot, so finishing as high as you can is not going to do you any harm.

“It’s hard to not think about. You can’t pretend. We’re all smart enough to know that it means something.”

Thompson has had a taste of European golf already this year, finishing tied for 30th at the Challenge Tour’s Blot Open de Bretagne in France.

Although the travel aspect threw up some unique challenges – such as using Google Translate to book an Airbnb close to the golf course – Thompson is determined to take advantage of the opportunity in front of him.

“There are lots of good golfers out there, so just got to keep working hard, keep focusing on yourself and what you can control,” said Thompson.

“It’d be nice to just push on from here, especially with the two big events we’ve got coming up at home afterwards.

“The platform for us in Australia is getting better and better. It’s more taking advantage of that and just keep going with it.”

The six other Australians to earn a spot at Second Stage via the Order of Merit were Austin Bautista (ninth), Daniel Gale (10th), Jarryd Felton (11th), Jordan Zunic (12th), Nathan Barbieri (16th) and Jay Mackenzie (22nd). American Derek Ackerman – winner of the inaugural The National PGA Classic – also secured a spot through the Australasian Order of Merit.

Power Horan, Marchesani, Blake Collyer, Kyle Michel, Lachlan Barker, Linus Yip and John Lyras qualified for Second Stage at Rosebud while Braden Becker, Elvis Smylie and WA amateurs Connor McKinney and Hayden Hopewell advanced at First Stage events throughout Europe.

Final Stage will be played over six rounds at the Lakes Course at Infinitum in Tarragona from November 11-16.

DP World Tour Qualifying School – Second Stage

Isla Canela Links, Huelva, Spain
Nathan Barbieri, Elvis Smylie and Linus Yip.

Empordà Golf, Girona, Spain
Derek Ackerman (US), Blake Collyer, Jarryd Felton, Daniel Gale, John Lyras, James Marchesani and Tom Power Horan.

Desert Springs Golf Club, Almería, Spain
Lachlan Barker, Braden Becker, Hayden Hopewell (a), Deyen Lawson and Jack Thompson.

Las Colinas Golf & Country Club, Alicante, Spain
Austin Bautista, Jay Mackenzie, Connor McKinney (a), Kyle Michel and Jordan Zunic.