Mark Power needs the round of a lifetime and some divine intervention if he is to earn a DP World Tour card for next season.
Power carded a 69 on day five of the final stage of DP World Tour Q-School at the Lakes Course at Infinitum to lie on eight-under-par. But he is in a share of 53rd place and seven shots outside the top-20 and ties which would earn category 18 status for next year.
The Kilkenny man has secured HotelPlanner Tour status for next season which is a result considering he ended the regular campaign playing on the Clutch Pro Tour where he won for the first time as a professional.
Zander Lombard looks set to regain DP World Tour playing privileges after extending his lead to seven shots with one round remaining.
The South African, who eased into a six-shot lead on day four, carried that dominance into the penultimate round in Tarragona to end the day out in front on 29 under par, seven clear of Australian Connor McKinney, who holds solo second on 22 under.
Lombard hit the top of the leaderboard for the first time on day three, and has remained the pacesetter ever since, with rounds of 64-69-67-64 and a seven under par 64 on day five seeing him move into a commanding position with 18 holes to play.
The 30-year-old birdied his opening two holes on day five, and added another gain at the fifth to turn in three under par. Back-to-back birdies on hole ten and 11 followed, and despite his only dropped shot of the day coming on the 16th, he responded by finishing birdie-eagle on the Lakes Course to remain in control.
The 30-year-old is in pole position to secure DP World Tour playing privileges through Qualifying School for the second time in his career, having achieved the same feat at INFINITUM in 2018.
“It was really solid stuff tee to green,” he said. “Finishing birdie-eagle was a nice way to cap off the day.
“It’s been stress-free golf. I’m hitting a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, and the pace on my putting is good, so even from range, it looks like it’s had a chance to go in and if it doesn’t, it’s just a tap in.
“Conditions are quite a bit different to when I did it in 2018, but it’s still the same golf course, and I feel comfortable on it and I’m producing the stuff I need to. Hopefully I can keep it going for one more day.
“It’s proving to me that I shouldn’t have been here in the first place. It’s nice to see that I’m still capable of this sort of golf, and hopefully I can make my way back into that top 100 in the world.”
American Davis Bryant and Zimbabwe’s Benjamin Follett-Smith share third place on 21 under par, with Daniel Rodrigues from Portugal, India’s Shubhankar Sharma and Frenchman Quentin Debove two shots further back in fifth.
At the conclusion of tomorrow’s sixth and final round, the leading 20 players and ties will earn DP World Tour playing privileges (Category 18) for the 2026 season.
With 18 holes to play, several DP World Tour winners occupy positions inside the top 20 and ties, including Sharma, Englishman Matthew Baldwin (tied eighth), Spaniard Adri Arnaus (tied 12th) and Frenchman Alexander Levy (tied 17th).
Four players currently inside the top 20 and ties could become the latest players to go from First Stage to gaining playing status on Golf’s Global Tour, with McKinney, Rodrigues, Argentinian Andres German Gallegos (tied 13th) and Frederico Biondi Figueiredo (tied 17th) all well-placed.
The final round of DP World Tour Final Stage Qualifying School gets under way tomorrow at 9:00am local time, with Lombard teeing off alongside McKinney and Bryant at 10:44am.
