James Morrison was on the cusp of calling it quits.
Having played 15 straight seasons on the DP World Tour before losing his card last season, the 40-year-old Morrison entered this week’s HotelPlanner Tour finale, the Rolex Grand Final, six spots outside the points cutoff for at least as conditional return to Europe’s main circuit. He’d need a nice week in Mallorca, Spain, because if not, there was little chance he’d be grinding another year in the minors.
“That was going to be my last event, 100%, and this has completely messed it up,” an emotional Morrison said Sunday afternoon after his convincing three-shot victory vaulted him all the way to sixth in the developmental tour’s points race.
With the top 20 players securing full DP World Tour cards for next season – an additional 10 earn conditional membership – Morrison will resume his lengthy DP World Tour career that has included 438 starts and two wins.
Morrison first graduated from the previously named Challenge Tour in 2009 before winning in Portugal as a DP World Tour rookie. He’d win again, at the 2015 Spanish Open, but that remained his last professional triumph until he won earlier this season on the HotelPlanner Tour.
Despite having already won, Morrison entered this week at No. 36 in points. With his 13-year-old son, Finley, on the bag, he used a 7-under 65 on Saturday to build a three-shot cushion with one round to play. He three-putted the par-5 first on Sunday and then bogeyed his next, but three birdies in a four-hole stretch starting at the par-5 11th allowed Morrison to pull away, even if it did little to quell the nerves.
“That swing on the last, I couldn’t feel my arms. It went so far right,” said Morisson, who closed in bogey to shoot 70 and finish at 15 under, ahead of runner-up Stefano Mazzoli, who’s solo second move him up 10 spots to No. 8 in the final standings.
“I’m glad it’s over with, let’s put it that way,” Morrison added. “But no, I played nicely all week. Didn’t play as well today, but kind of managed my emotions, dug into my memory bank and my wins on the DP World Tour, and the wind blowing really helped me today because I knew the harder it got, the more it would play into my hands.”
The 2025-26 DP World Tour season begins Nov. 27 at the BMW Australian PGA.
“I haven’t got a tour bag. I haven’t got a caddie,” Morrison said. “I’m going to have to figure some stuff out.”
South Africa’s J.C. Ritchie, who logged 28 starts on the DP World Tour in 2023 but made only 11 cuts, has known he’d be returning to the big tour for a while. He won three times this year, including twice in September, while pushing his career total of HotelPlanner Tour wins to seven.
“It hasn’t really sunk in,” Ritchie said. “I don’t understand what I’ve done. I think I’ve had an unbelievable season. When I fly back home, or maybe even tonight, I’ll sit down and have a think. It’s been a dream season for me. It was something that one of my first coaches told me, when I was preparing to be on tour. He said to try to be the best on every tour before you level up or try to be in the top 10. I managed to win the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, and then it’s taken time to learn how to play out here and compete…
“I’m not the person I was last year. I’m happier with my game, I know what I’m doing and I’m glad I’ve managed to prove to myself that I’m good enough play out here and compete at a higher level.”
Here is the full list of HotelPlanner Tour graduates:
NOS. 1-20 (CATEGORY 15)
1. J.C. Ritchie
2. David Law
3. Maximilian Steinlechner
4. Renato Paratore
5. Oihan Guillamoundeguy
6. James Morrison
7. Filippo Celli
8. Stefano Mazzoli
9. Daniel Van Tonder
10. Sebastian Garcia
11. Daniel Young
12. Felix Mory
13. Joshua Berry
14. Euan Walker
15. Quim Vidal
16. Hugo Townsend
17. Tobias Jonsson
18. Rocco Repetto Taylor
19. Clement Charmasson
20. Albin Bergstrom
NOS. 21-30 (CATEGORY 20)
21. Jovan Rebula
22. Lukas Nemecz
23. Per Langfors
24. Jamie Rutherford
25. Anton Albers
26. Julian Perico
27. Victor Sidal Svendsen
28. Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen
29. Calum Fyfe
30. Palmer Jackson
