Mark Power closed with a level-par round of 71 to bring the marathon six-round Final Stage of Q-School to an end at Infinitum.
Power comes away with a HotelPlanner Tour card for next season after finishing in 56th place on eight-under and he will join Liam Nolan, Max Kennedy, Conor Purcell, James Sugrue and Ronan Mullarney on Europe’s second tier.
The Kilkenny man was the only Irishman to make the 72-hole cut at Q-School and while the week was a positive for him, the record now shows that no Irish player has progressed through the qualifier since 2022.
Zander Lombard cruised to a thirteen-shot victory on 37-under-par but the day belonged to Eddie Pepperell who shared 12th place with the top-20 and ties securing DP World Tour category 18.
The Englishman showed his class to birdie each of the final four holes in the final round at the Lakes Course to finish at 19 under par.
A firm fan favourite, Pepperell’s return to Golf’s Global Tour comes a year after missing out by one shot at Qualifying School where he agonisingly missed an eagle putt on the final hole.
That resulted in the 34-year-old playing a mixed schedule across both the DP World Tour and HotelPlanner Tour during the 2025 season, before coming through two stages of qualifying over back-to-back weeks in Spain.
“I’m pretty proud of myself actually,” he told the DP World Tour. “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.”
Pepperell won twice on the DP World Tour in 2018, going on to elevate his game further with a tie for third at THE PLAYERS Championship as he consolidated himself as a top 50 player in the world.
However, he has since struggled to maintain those levels, speaking candidly – including on the podcast The Chipping Forecast which he co-hosts alongside broadcasters Andrew Cotter and Iain Carter – about both the technical and mental struggles he has faced with his game.
Asked to summarise the high he is feeling after some difficult periods, the emotion came over him, and he stopped mid answer to cry: “It’s tough to put into words really. The game has been tough for a while.
“I have made it hard for myself so… next question.”
Pepperell is expected to now tee it up Down Under when the 2026 Race to Dubai season gets under way at the BMW Australian PGA Championship later this month.
While he is aware there are still improvements to make in his game, he is looking ahead with optimism.
“The game is so difficult still,” he said. “I just want to take forward what I have just done here.”
Killeen Castle golfer John Gough who hails from England but has family from Kilmessan and Athboy in Co. Meath missed out in agonising circumstances as a late bogey saw him fall one shot shy of the qualifying mark.
