After almost two decades on the DP World Tour, the Rolex Grand Final was going to be James Morrison’s swansong. Now, those plans have changed in dramatic fashion…
James Morrison has had some career on the DP World Tour.
But, after 438 starts and almost $7 million made on the Wentworth-based circuit, the Englishman was ready to call it a day.
This season, Morrison has been slogging it out on the second-tier HotelPlanner Tour. Heading to the season-ending Rolex Grand Final, after which the top 20 in the Road to Mallorca rankings would be promoted to the top level, he was 36th and comfortable with his decision to hang up his spikes.
But, with his 13-year-old son Finley on the bag, Morrison carded rounds of 71, 67, 65 and 70 at Club de Golf Alcanada to reach 15-under-par and seal a three-shot victory over Stefano Mazzoli. That lifted him to sixth in the season-long standings and earned a seat back at the top table.
“When I said this was going to be my last event, it really was going to be, 100 percent,” Morrison said. “This has completely messed that up!”
The 40-year-old, whose two DP World Tour wins came at the 2010 Madeira Islands Open and the 2015 Open de Espana, added: “I’m glad it’s over with. I played nicely all week. I didn’t play as well today but managed my emotions and dug into my memory bank with my wins on the DP World Tour. The wind blowing really helped me today because I knew, the harder it got, the more it would play into my hands a little bit. I knew if I could keep ticking along, I could get away from the field a bit.
“I stayed calm and stayed with it. I couldn’t feel my arms on my swing at the last, it went so far right, but I couldn’t care less. A win is a win.”
When asked about having his son on the bag, Morrison struggled to fight the emotion.
“I feel sorry for him, really,” he said. “He’s got a half past six alarm for school tomorrow morning.
“He’s amazing. I love him. He did so well.”
South African JC Ritchie, a 15-time champion across the HotelPlanner and Sunshine Tours, topped the Road to Mallorca rankings, with Scotland’s David Law, Austrian Maximillian Steinlechner, Italy’s Renato Paratore, and Frenchman Oihan Guillamoundeguy making up the top 5.
2025 Road to Mallorca Rankings
The top 20 at the end of ther 2025 HotelPlanner Tour season who will earn their DP World Tour cards for next season are…
JC Ritchie (South Africa)
David Law (Scotland)
Maximillian Steinlechner (Austria)
Renato Paratore (Italy)
Oihan Guillamoundeguy (France)
James Morrison (England)
Filippo Celli (Italy)
Stefano Mazzoli (Italy)
Daniel Von Tonder (South Africa)
Sebastian Garcia (Spain)
Daniel Young (Scotland)
Felix Mory (France)
Josh Berry (England)
Euan Walker (Scotland)
Quim Vidal (Spain)
Hugo Townsend (Sweden)
Tobias Jonsson (Sweden)
Rocco Repetto Taylor (Spain)
Clement Charmasson (France)
Albin Bergstrom (Sweden)
