Eddie Pepperell is hoping to come through DP World Tour Final Stage Qualifying School for the second time in his career when he tees it up at INFINITUM this week.
The Final Stage of Qualifying School will consist of six rounds with each player playing two rounds at the Lakes Course and two at the Hills Course at INFINITUM, before the top 70 and ties play the final two rounds at the Lakes Course.
The two-time DP World Tour winner returns to Final Stage for the first time since 2016 after narrowly missing out on retaining his playing privileges on golf’s Global Tour through the 2024 Race to Dubai Rankings.
The Englishman is hoping to bounce back at the first opportunity and is looking forward to the challenge of the six-round ‘ironman’ week.
“Four rounds is a marathon, six is an ironman of golf,” he said. “I’m not daunted by the prospect at all. I think the more I get to play in a short run of time, the better it is for me and my game.
“My game hasn’t been in a terrible place. It’s not been great but it’s not been terrible, so I’m quite looking forward to the week.
“I think if you’ve been on Tour a long time, this week is less of a daunting prospect. There are a number of guys playing this week who have never played on the DP World Tour so to get out there is a really big thing.
“For me, having been out there for a while, it’s less of a thought in my mind. I think that can help me stay calm and a bit more relaxed and just let the game flow. I just hope my game is in a good spot.”
Pepperell is hoping to lean on the experience he gained at Final Stage eight years ago, with a tied fifth result that week pre-empting his best two seasons on the DP World Tour to date.
The 33-year-old went on to record seven top ten finishes the following year, before winning twice in 2018, including at the Sky Sports British Masters.
“In 2016 I remember quite enjoying Final Stage,” he added. “By the sixth day you’re exhausted but you’re very much in the flow of what is happening in your game and the tournament, so I’m looking forward to hopefully being back in that mindset.
“From memory, I felt relatively calm. The key is not to get in your own way, and I don’t anticipate that is going to happen to me this week.
Don’t panic, just listen to your body and what it’s telling you, and try to sleep well.”
Pepperell will be joined in Spain by several other DP World Tour winners, including Spaniard Adri Arnaus, Italian Renato Paratore and Ashun Wu from China.
Ryder Cup players Edoardo Molinari, Chris Wood, Oliver Wilson and Stephen Gallacher will also tee it up as part of the star-studded field in Tarragona.
Germany Freddy Schott, who won Final Stage Qualifying School last year, returns to INFINITUM hoping to replicate that feat 12 months on.
As well as seasoned professionals, young hopefuls are also aiming to seize playing privileges for 2025.
Englishman Frank Kennedy won for the first time as a professional on the Challenge Tour earlier this year, and at 19-years-old, will be aiming for a place in the top 20 and ties to earn a DP World Tour card, as will Czech Jiri Zuska, who triumphed at both First Stage and Second Stage on his way to Final Stage this week.
DP World Tour Qualifying School has produced a host of Major Champions, World Number Ones and Ryder Cup stars since the inaugural contest in 1976. Colin Montgomerie, Sandy Lyle, Justin Rose and Miguel Ángel Jiménez are just a few European greats to make it through ‘golf’s toughest test’ before going on to taste glory on the world stage.
INFINITUM, formerly known as Lumine Golf, hosts Final Stage for the sixth time this week, after doing so from 2017-2019 before returning in both 2022 and 2023.
The first round gets under way at 9:00am local time, with Pepperell teeing off alongside Zimbabwean Benjamin Follett-Smith and Gudmundur Kristjansson from Iceland on the Hills Course at 10:50am.
