Benjamin Poke wins Final Stage of Q-School as 28 players earn European Tour cards
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Benjamin Poke dominated the final stage of European Tour Qualifying School with a six shot victory as 28 players earned their European Tour cards for next season.
A record 1,063 took part in the three stages of the European Tour’s Qualifying School this year, and 28 players went on to earn their Tour cards following the six-round marathon Final Stage at Lumine Golf Club.
The best of them all was 27-year-old Danish golfer Benjamin Poke, who led from the second round and finished with a final round 64 to end up six strokes clear on 25-under-par.
Poke, who has only just completed his rookie year on the Challenge Tour, called the feat of earning his Tour card ‘unbelievable’.
“To play on the European Tour is something that you always dream about when you are young, so to finally stand here with my card is unbelievable,” Poke said.
“Before this week I knew that I had developed my game a lot since last year. I was happy to reach the Road to Mallorca Grand Final and I was thinking that anything I managed to do this week was a bit of a bonus. I managed to keep that mentality all week and not get too far ahead of myself, just focus on the day in hand.
“I’m planning to celebrate this moment for a while. You work so hard and then there are times when you are struggling and it’s not easy, but you’ve got to get up and carry on and celebrate the good times when they happen.”
Finishing immediately behind Poke to regain their status on Tour were multiple European Tour winners Gregory Havret (-19), Alejandro Canizares (-18) and SSP Chawrasia (-17).
Laurie Canter, who finished tied on 16-under-par with Rasmus Hojgaard and Aaron Cockerill, was one of six English players to earn their Tour cards. The others were Garrick Porteous (-14), Marcus Armitage (-14), Dave Coupland (-13), Toby Tree (-13) and Dale Whitnell (-12).
Whitnell finished alongside Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, Niklas Lemke and Rikard Karlberg, who provided the most dramatic moment of the day, holing a 50-footer on the final hole of the day to finish in a tie for 25th place and take the last remaining Tour card.
Meanwhile, Adrien Saddier and Robin Sciot-Siegrist joined Havret and Gonnet – who was the only player to go through all three stages of Q-School – in earning their cards, totalling a record-equalling number of French players to graduate from Qualifying School.
Another notable names to earn their Tour cards through this year include multiple European Tour winners Bradley Dredge and Darren Fichardt, who finished 128th and 130th respectively in this years Race to Dubai rankings.
Below, find a list of all the players who earned their European Tour cards for next season.
Benjamin Poke:- 25
Gregory Havret: -19
Alejandro Cañizares: -18
SSP Chawrasia: -17
Nicolas Højgaard: -16
Laurie Canter: -16
Aaron Cockerill: -16
Carlos Pigem: -15
Sciot-Siegrist: -15
Jinho Choi: -15
Adrien Saddier: -15
Sami Valimaki: -15
Johannes Veerman: -14
Garrick Porteous: -14
Jake McLeod: -14
Marcus Armitage: -14
Shiwan Kim: -13
Pedro Figueiredo: -13
Jonathon Caldwell: -13
Bradley Dredge: -13
Dave Coupland: -13
Darren Fichardt: -13
Lars van Meijel: -13
Toby Tree: -13
Rikard Karlberg: -12
Niklas Lemke: -12
Dale Whitnell: -12
Jean-Baptiste Gonnet: -12
