Zander Lombard closed out a dominant performance to win the Final Stage of DP World Tour Qualifying School as 20 players earned DP World Tour playing privileges for next season.
The South African, solo leader since the fourth round at INFINITUM, signed for an eight under par 63 to go with rounds of 64-69-67-64-64 and reach -37 for the week.
Shubhankar Sharma of India, Canada’s Aaron Cockerill and Australia’s Connor McKinney finished in a tie for second, 13 shots further back at -24, at INFINITUM in Spain.
edit>>>> after a poor season with only one top 10, just missed #115 on last day in Korea, Aaron found his game and confidence with 31 birdies, 71 pars, just 5 bogeys, 1 double in 108 holes, will be delighted to get right back for his 5th season on DP World Tour.
Lombard lost his DP World Tour card last month after a delayed start to his campaign following seven months on the sidelines due to an anterior cruciate ligament rupture and medial meniscus tear sustained playing padel last year.
It is the second time he has secured his status on the DP World Tour through Qualifying School, having come second to Alejandro Cañizares at Final Stage in 2018.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet, but it is what I came here to do,” he said. “So, unreal. It’s hopefully the springboard for what the season has in store.
“It was a great week. A tough week, a long marathon… It was easy to just sit back and relax and start making a few errors, but my caddie and I were having fun, but we stayed focused the whole week and that produced the score we have on the board.
“It’s been a tough year and a half. From knee surgery, learning how to walk again, to trying to find my game the last six months and then really starting to enjoy the game again the last two. It’s been trending and hopefully I can keep this form for the year to come.”
England’s Eddie Pepperell made birdies on the final four holes to earn his playing rights for the 2026 season in dramatic fashion, with countryman and fellow DP World Tour winner Matt Baldwin finishing birdie-eagle to earn a swift return to Golf’s Global Tour.
“I’m pretty proud of myself actually,” said Pepperell. “That was a tough day [with] a great finish.
“I didn’t have too many goals coming into these two weeks. I was just looking forward to playing some golf to be quite honest and hoping that I would play well.
“This week felt like a bit of a struggle at times and never more so than today midway through the round, but I really hung in there. I am delighted.”
Adri Arnaus, another former winner on Tour, made birdies at three of his final four holes to earn his card, while France's Quentin Debove, Norway’s Andreas Halvorsen and Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana were all able to celebrate success at the six-round event.
American Davis Bryant, Zimbabwe’s Benjamin Follett-Smith and Gregorio De Leo of Italy came through Final Stage for the second year running.
Final Stage Qualifiers
Zander Lombard (RSA)
Connor McKinney (AUS)
Shubhankar Sharma (IND)
Aaron Cockerill (CAN)
Daniel Rodrigues (POR)
Nathan Kimsey (ENG)
Quentin Debove (FRA)
Davis Bryant (USA)
Benjamin Follett-Smith (ZIM)
Matthew Baldwin (ENG)
Gregorio de Leo (ITA)
Andreas Halvorsen (NOR)
Adri Arnaus (ESP)
Eddie Pepperell (ENG)
Jack Yule (ENG)
Andres German Gallegos (ARG)
Sadom Kaewkanjana (THA)
Federico Biondi Figueiredo (BRA)
Hunter Logan (USA)
Mike Toorop (NED)
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