It was nail-biting, but he did it! Bryce Easton carded a one-under-par 71 in the closing round of the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A at Club de Golf Alcanada in Alcudia, Spain to finish in a share of second and earn his DP World Tour card for 2023.

After trying for so many years, Easton set things up this week as he went into the final round in a share of the lead – more than enough to see him promoted to the big leagues for the next season as he was projected to rise from 38^th, where he started the week, to seventh. The top 20 on the Challenge Tour rankings at the end of this tournament would earn their DP World Tour playing privileges.

He started the final round with an eagle-three on the par-five opening hole. But the rest of his front nine turned into a grim war of attrition as he followed that with bogeys on three and four. A birdie on seven appeared to have righted the ship, but bogeys on eight and nine saw him turn in one-over 37. And he needed to finish in the upper reaches of the leaderboard to climb the 18 or more places required to get him into the top 20.

A birdie on 11 seemed to have things going smoothly again as he got back to level-par for his round and seven-under for the tournament. But he made yet another bogey, his fifth, on the 13^th.

It was getting tight, and, in fact, started looking like a bridge too far. But he gritted his teeth and made birdie on 14. Still it was not a done deal, as he was projected to rise to just outside the top 20. But a gritty birdie on 17 and a superb up-and-down par from right of the green on the short side saw him home – and up into 18^th place.

It was equally tense for Deon Germishuys: He started the tournament in 17^th on the rankings, and fought and fought his way to one-over for the week with his closing 71. That gave him a share of 23^rd, and although he dropped in the rankings, it was to 20^th, and he took the last of the cards up for grabs.

There was no such tension for JC Ritchie. He went into the week in second place, and, although the Grand Final didn’t go according to script for him, he was able to freewheel his way to a superb nine-under-par 63 final 18 holes to round off his week. It took him to one-under for the week, a share of 18^th and fourth on the rankings.