German duo Polly Mack and Alexandra Försterling tied for the top at the Ladies European Tour’s Qualifying School at La Manga Club in Spain, which saw 24 players earn category 12 playing rights on Europe’s top tour for women golfers for the 2023 season.

Försterling, who led after round four, has got to know La Manga Club pretty well after progressing through the European Pre-Qualifier held at the same venue last week. The 23-year-old produced a round of level par on the South Course with three birdies and three bogeys to secure LET playing rights for 2023 with a 15 under par total.

She explained: “I feel really good! I’m a little annoyed about 18, where I missed a short putt to win outright, but that’s how it is some times. All in all, if someone would have told me before that I would have finished here, I wouldn’t have believed them. It’s really nice. It means a lot to get my LET card. I’m extremely excited for next season and I can’t wait to get started!”

A final round of 71 saw Mack draw alongside her compatriot, after she rolled in four birdies and two bogeys in Spain. It has been a busy end to the year for the 23-year-old, who secured both her LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour cards for 2023 in December.

“It feels great,” said Mack. “These last couple of week couldn’t have turned out any better and I’m honestly just really really happy with this outcome and going into the off-season with this feeling is really nice. It means a lot to get the LET status. I am German and it’s nice to have both and have the options and more opportunities. I’m really looking forward to 2023, I think it’s going to be exciting.”

French amateur Nastasia Nadaud rounded off her excellent week with a 71 on the final day to finish in third, with Slovenia’s Ana Belac ended the tournament in fourth place after firing the a low round of the day 67, which included an eagle on 18, to be finish on 13-under.

Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab was fifth on 11-under, while Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela finished in a share of sixth place alongside Austria’s Emma Spitz with Australia’s Gabriela Ruffels in outright eighth place. Rounding out the top 10 on six-under-par were Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley and England’s Annabel Dimmock, with Germany’s Sophie Hausmann and Sweden’s Emma Nilsson in T11.

Czechia’s Tereza Melecka, who also carded a 67 (-6) on the final day, ended T13 with Norway’s Maiken Bing Paulsen plus Swiss amateur Tiffany Arafi and Danish amateur Amalie Leth-Nissen.

Spain’s Paz Marfa Sans finished in a share of 17th  on three-under alongside Sweden’s Linnea Johansson, Germany’s Aline Krauter, Norway’s Madelene Stavnar, Wales’ Lee-Anne Bramwell, Scotland’s Louise Duncan, Japan’s Yuri Onishi and Italy’s Alessandra Fanali.

Should they wish to accept and take up LET membership, a total of 24 players secured Category 12 membership for 2023 while 28 players clinched Category 16 membership.

Check out the full final results from the Final Qualifier here.

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Sweden’s Simon Forsström will take a two-shot lead over England’s Daniel Brown into the sixth and last round of Final Stage DP World Tour Qualifying School, which is being held at INFINITUM in Spain.

Forsström, who has led since the third round, and led by two after the fourth round, carded six birdies in his five-under-par 66 on day five to move to 26 under par for 90 holes.

The 33-year-old is in a fantastic position heading into the final round, with the top 25 and ties earning DP World Tour playing privileges.

“I’m very pleased with today because I played solid and made some putts,” he said. “My ball striking wasn’t as good as the previous rounds, but I still gave myself a lot of chances to make birdies. I’m probably feeling less pressure being at the top heading into the final round this week because I know I just need to finish in the top 25, but I just need to keep playing well tomorrow.”

Portugal’s Pedro Figueiredo signed for a seven-under 64 to move into a tie for third on 22 under, alongside four-time DP World Tour winner Kiradech Aphibarnrat.

A host of players are still in the hunt for top tier playing privileges with 18 holes remaining, including Spaniard Alejandro Del Rey, who sits in a tie for 20th on 16 under par. The 24-year-old is determined to get the job done this week after narrowly missing out on his DP World Tour card at the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final just over a week ago.

“It was very tough to come down here after the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final,” he said. “It was a tough week after a good year and I was disappointed not to finish it off. I  was feeling a bit down on myself and I didn’t have time to really process what happened that week, so it has been more mental than physical for me. It would mean everything for me to earn a DP World Tour card because it is something I had in mind the whole year, especially after winning on the Challenge Tour. I would love to go out there and play against the best in the world.”

Those currently hovering around the 25th placed-mark include the English sextet of Sam Hutsby (T20th), David Horsey (T24th), OJ Russell (T24th), Garrick Porteous (T28th), Marco Penge (T28th) and Ross McGowan (T31st). All will be hoping for strong finishes to the 108-hole marathon, the final round of which gets under way at at 9am local time tomorrow (Wednesday), with Forsström teeing it up in the final group alongside Brown and Figueiredo at 11.06am.

One of the most interesting form turnarounds this week has come from Germany’s Nick Bachem, who opened his campaign with a four-over-par 76, and then followed it up with a 10-under par 61 – fully 15 shots better than his previous round. He currently lies in tied 12th place on -18.

For the current leaderboard from Qualifying School, click here.

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Simon Forsström will take a two-shot lead into the fourth round of Final Stage Qualifying School after posting a brilliant seven under par 65 on the Hills Course at INFINITUM.

The Swede carded eight birdies and just one bogey to move to 15 under par at the halfway stage, two ahead of Englishman Daniel Brown and Denmark’s John Axelsen.

Forsström was delighted to climb to the top of the leaderboard in Tarragona and credited his iron play for his strong performance on day three.

“I’m really happy with my game today,” he said. “I focussed on hitting one-shot at a time, not stressing and luckily I ended up at the top of the leaderboard. My ball-striking was incredible, and I think it is probably the best I have ever hit the ball.”

The 33-year-old impressed on the Challenge Tour this season finishing 42nd in the money list having played just 11 events, and he is now targeting a DP World Tour card with the top 25 and ties this week earning top tier playing privileges.

“I know we are only at the halfway point so anything can happen which means I need to focus on the rest of the week,” he said. “I played really well on the Challenge Tour this year and I think I have taken that confidence into this week. t would mean everything for me to achieve a DP World Tour card because I have never played there before so it would be life-changing for me.”

Sweden’s Niklas Lemke sits in fourth position on 12 under par, while Englishman Sam Hutsby is a shot further back in fifth. Spanish duo Alejandro Del Rey and Manuel Elvira share sixth place with Ireland’s Gary Hurley and Frenchman Joël Stalter on ten under par.

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Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat turned on the style as a seven under par round of 64 earned him the second round lead at DP World Tour Qualifying School – Final Stage.

The 34-year-old carded seven birdies without a blemish on the Lakes Course to reach ten under par, one stroke clear of English duo Ross McGowan and Daniel Brown, as well as Iceland’s Gudmundur Kristjansson.

There are still four rounds of the marathon Final Stage event to play at INFINITUM but Aphibarnat, a four-time DP World Tour winner, is the man who holds a narrow advantage after 36 holes.

“It was a good round, sitting on the top of the leaderboard is always good,” he said. “I just want to go out there and play my own game, enjoy it and not set goals. I’ve been struggling the last two years, not really enjoying golf as I used to, but to come back and play on the DP World Tour made me more comfortable. My game was getting much better. I just want to go out and play golf as I’m supposed to do. I played Asian Tour last week and I was pleased to see some friends. I had a good result, finishing in the top five, and I feel like I’m bringing some confidence into this week. There are still four more days, anything can happen, I’m just trying to play my own game.

Every player in the 156-man field will play two rounds on each of the Lakes and Hills courses at INFINITUM and the Bangkok native found it easier to navigate the Lakes layout due to how he was able to assess the wind.

“On the Hills, especially the front nine, it’s a little tight,” he said. “You’ve got to put the ball in the right spot and yesterday I played and the wind picked up with a lot of gusts.
“It’s quite difficult to read the wind but on the Lakes, it’s wide open. I know the wind is strong but you can tell exactly what the wind is doing. You just have to make sure you hole the putts to get a good score.”

Five players, including English amateur Callan Barrow, share fifth place on eight under par, with a further four players a shot further back in a tie for tenth. Germany’s Nick Bachem, who finished 25th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, posted the low round of the day – and the week so far – with a sublime bogey-free ten under par round of 61 on the Lakes Course.

For the very latest scores from DP World Tour Qualifying School – Final Stage click here. 

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