Shubhankar Sharma in action during the DP World Tour’s Qualifying School Final Stage in Tarragona, Spain, where he finished in a share of second place. Image courtesy DPWTQ School.
By Rahul Banerji
A tie for second place gave Shubhankar Sharma playing rights for the 2026 DP World Tour season at the six-round Qualifying School in Tarragona, Spain, on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old two-time DP World Tour winner finished Final Stage of the DPWT Q School on 24 under par 404 alongside Australia’s Connor McKinney and Aaron Cockerill of Canada.
Having finished 178th in the 2025 Race to Dubai Rankings, Shubhankar was is top form and improved almost by the day before finishing with cards of 70, 69, 66, 67, 66 and 66 to be amongst 20 players earning playing privileges for next season.
At the top, South Africa’s Zander Lombard produced a flawless six rounds at INFINITUM with the qualifying race by a 13-stroke margin, closing with an 8 under par 63 along with earlier rounds of 64, 69, 67, 64 and 64 to total 37 under 391 for the week.
Lombard lost his card last month after a delayed start to his campaign following seven months out with injury, the DP World Tour said.“It hasn’t sunk in yet, but it is what I came here to do,” Lombard was quoted as saying in Spain.
“So, unreal. It’s hopefully the springboard for what the season has in store.
Tough week
“It was a great week. A tough week, a long marathon. It was easy to just sit back and relax and start making a few errors, but my caddie and I were having fun, we stayed focused the whole week and that produced the score we have on the board.
“It’s been a tough year and a half. From knee surgery, learning how to walk again, to trying to find my game the last six months and then really starting to enjoy the game again the last two.
“It’s been trending and hopefully I can keep this form for the year to come.”
Daniel Rodrigues of Portugal, ranked 2,449 in the Official World Golf Ranking, carded a closing 68 to finish in a tie for fifth on 22 under, alongside England’s Nathan Kimsey.
Joining Rodrigues in coming through all three stages to earn playing privileges were Frenchman Quentin Debove, Argentina’s Andres German Gallegos, Brazil’s Frederico Biondi Figueiredo, American Hunter Logan and Mike Toorop of the Netherlands.
Dramatic surge
England’s Eddie Pepperell made birdies on the final four holes to earn his playing rights for 2026 in dramatic fashion, with countryman and fellow DP World Tour winner Matt Baldwin finishing birdie-eagle to earn a swift return.
“I’m pretty proud of myself actually,” said Pepperell. “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.”
Adri Arnaus, another former winner on Tour, made birdies at three of his final four holes to earn his card, while Norway’s Andreas Halvorsen and Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana were able to celebrate success at the six-round event.
American Davis Bryant, Zimbabwe’s Benjamin Follett-Smith and Gregorio De Leo of Italy came through Final Stage for the second year running.
France’s Alexander Levy and Scotland’s Marc Warren, who have nine DP World Tour titles between them, were among five players to miss out finishing in the top 20 and ties by just one shot.
Final Stage Qualifiers
Zander Lombard (RSA) 64 69 67 64 64 63
Connor McKinney (AUS) 62 73 68 67 65 69
Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 70 69 66 67 66 66
Aaron Cockerill (CAN) 69 66 70 67 67 65
Daniel Rodrigues (POR) 69 66 69 69 65 68
Nathan Kimsey (ENG) 68 67 70 67 67 67
Quentin Debove (FRA) 69 68 71 63 67 69
Davis Bryant (USA) 72 68 62 70 64 72
Benjamin Follett-Smith (ZIM) 66 67 67 71 65 72
Matthew Baldwin (ENG) 67 66 70 68 68 69
Gregorio de Leo (ITA) 67 66 69 71 68 67
Andreas Halvorsen (NOR) 66 69 68 70 66 70
Adri Arnaus (ESP) 72 65 68 70 65 69
Eddie Pepperell (ENG) 70 71 67 68 67 66
Jack Yule (ENG) 68 74 66 69 67 65
Andres German Gallegos (ARG) 71 67 71 67 65 69
Sadom Kaewkanjana (THA) 70 69 66 70 67 68
Frederico Biondi Figueiredo (BRA) 67 67 70 74 64 68
Hunter Logan (USA) 66 73 69 68 67 67
Mike Toorop (NED) 70 66 73 69 65 67
Also read: Six Indians in Singapore field as LIV Golf opens its doors wider
Discover more from Tee Time Tales
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.