Tom Lewis could’ve accepted defeat three rounds into DP World Tour Q-school.
The outlook was bleak at 2-under-par in Infinitum, staring at a missed cut and more disappointment.
The “same old stuff” was back and it was set to be another week with promise but no product for the former Open Silver Medal winner.
The four-round cut was five-under-par and missing that, Lewis would have to settle for Challenge Tour starts in 2024.
“I’d been solid all year and not got any rewards for it and I just thought I’d been robbed of success because in golf, like right now, you just need that one good week,” he told NCG in Tarragona.
“You don’t need solid weeks, you just need the one good one and you can throw some bad ones in there. But I’ve just done well all year and that hasn’t really been enough, so to have come out this week and finish top six, I’m pleased with that.
“It was like I’m not going to make the cut here. It’s just going to be another one of those disappointing weeks and then I’d readjust what I’m going to do going forward.”
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What followed was quite remarkable. The 32-year-old made 10 birdies on Monday to not just qualify for the final two of six rounds, but to get stuck into contention for a tour card.
Lewis didn’t look back after his 61, harnessing his experience as a two-time DP World Tour winner to shoot 67 and 65 to secure spots on the 2024 schedule with ease.
“With that score and to follow it up with what I did, I think following it up with a four- and a six-under-par is more impressive than shooting 10-under-par,” he added.”
“I don’t know where my position would’ve been, but it would’ve been a hard December to go through, knowing this isn’t the way I wanted my career to be.
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“I would’ve had moments where I was like maybe I need to do something different, but then I probably would’ve come back and tried again.
“But to be in the position I’m in now – I know that there’s probably not as many starts as I would like, but it’s much better than the position I would’ve been in if I’d missed the cut.”
Lewis was one of 33 players to earn cards on the Lakes Course on Wednesday.
You can read a full report of the final round of the final stage of DP World Tour Q-school here.
Tom Lewis: DP World Tour offering PGA Tour cards not ‘a terrible thing’
While Lewis shone in Spain, the top 50 in the Race to Dubai rankings were tuning their games ahead of the DP World Tour Championship.
The top 10 players, not already exempt on the PGA Tour, will earn cards on the US circuit – a scheme that’s attracted scrutiny from some quarters.
Lewis is a one-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour and had his biggest taste of the United States when he made 28 starts during the 2020/2021 PGA Tour season.
Despite hearing dissenting voices against this initiative, the man from Welwyn Garden City believes if you want to be at your best, the PGA Tour is the place to be.
“I don’t follow much of it if I’m honest. I’m not a big politics type of guy, but I hear rumours and I hear a lot of people against it. I don’t know,” he said.
“If I’ve got a top 10 card, I think it’s an amazing thing. It just depends on what side of the ropes you’re standing on in a way, but I think if you want to be a great player, you want to play on the PGA Tour at the end of the day.
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“The DP World Tour is a great tour, but the PGA Tour is the best tour and that reflects on the players that play over there.
“So, if the DP World is giving chances for guys to be over there, then I don’t see it being a terrible thing.”
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