Just when Thomas Aiken didn’t need them, he made two double bogeys on Sunday in his closing round of the DP World Tour’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club in Doha, Qatar.

Taken together with two bogeys, those holes stymied his chances of retaining his DP World Tour playing privileges for 2024, as the five birdies he made weren’t enough to lift him to the 116^th position or higher that is probably going to be the cut-off point on the Race to Dubai rankings for players to keep their cards.

He finished on 12-under-par for the tournament, alone in 15^th place. Had he just made pars on the second and 15^th, instead of those doubles, he would have finished on 16-under. That would have given him a share of third, and that might have been enough to rescue him from the prospect of trying to regain his playing rights the hard way.

Zander Lombard was the next-best of the South Africans to finish, his two-under-par 70 taking him to nine-under for the week and a share of 27^th. Thriston Lawrence and Jayden Schaper were in a share of 36^th on seven-under-par after rounds of 74 and 70 respectively.

Daniel van Tonder closed with a level-par 72 to stay at five-under and a share of 47^th. He was projected to finish 117^th in the Race to Dubai, one position away from keeping his card. Hennie du Plessis is safe for 2024 in projected 74^th after a closing 74 saw him drop to three-under and a share of 54^th. But Deon Germishuys is projected to remain in 125^th after his closing 73 saw him finish in a share of 56^th on two-under-par.