‘It’s surreal’: Liam Nolan secures DP World Tour card for next season

Liam Nolan has secured a DP World Tour card for next season after a superb five-under-par 67 in the final day of the HotelPlanner Tour’s Grand Final in Majorca put the situation beyond doubt.

The Galway man had started the day in tied 25th after a disappointing 71 in his third round, which put some pressure on him to deliver in his final round to secure one of the 15 cards on offer.

But Nolan came out hot on Sunday at Club de Golf Alcanada with five birdies in his first seven holes, albeit with a bogey on the second, to make sure it would be a day to remember. Two more birdies followed on the 13th and 15th holes, with a bogey at the 17th not enough to spoil the party.

Nolan finished ninth in the final standings, up one place from the beginning of the event, with the top 15 getting full cards for next year.

“This is so nice. After the Friday, I wished it was Saturday and after the round yesterday I wished it was Sunday,” he said to the HotelPlanner Tour social media, talking about the pressure he faced this week.

“It’s nice to be done, to have the card is pretty surreal. Even after the win [in Abu Dhabi] you still have to work so hard to get a card, but now the work is done.

“I can relax for about a week, then get back to work,” he said with a laugh.

Kenny Fahey, the head coach from the Golf Ireland Academy, was there to see him get his card.

“It’s great, job done. I’m going get emotional here, I’m delighted for him, he deserved it today. Played proper golf. Nice to do it running at it, rather than running away from it. Will be a long evening ahead,” Fahey said.

“I started working with Kenny whenever I was 12,” Nolan said. “Which is mental. It’s pretty class, he’s seen me swing it terribly and pretty well, so this week it’s pretty good.”

Nolan’s caddie, Sean Nohilly, said: “It’s been a long year, all the emotions come out on 18. I told him to take it all in, all the good results point towards right now.

“It’s a small bit of an off-season, then we go again. It will be good to celebrate with the family as they have been at a lot of tournaments with us.”

Nolan had a solid year, with highlights being top 10s at the Danish Golf Challenge, the Challenge de Espana and Blot Play9, before he catapulted into DP World Tour card contention with victory at the Abu Dhabi Challenge in October. A tied-fifth finish at the Hainan Open a week later did his chances no harm, before the tied-14th finish in Spain sealed the deal.

France’s Julien Sale won the event by four strokes from Denmark’s Hamish Brown, with Brown finishing number one in the HotelPlanner Tour standings.

The next season of the DP World Tour will begin on November 26th at the BMW Australian PGA Championship at The Lakes GC in Sydney.