Conor Purcell has all but wrapped up his DP World Tour card for next season after he secured his maiden Challenge Tour win at last week’s Black Desert NI Open presented by Tom McKibbin at Galgorm.
It was a timely victory and a much needed one as it brightens up the landscape in Europe for Irish men’s professional golf. Just.
Until Purcell’s win, it was entirely plausible that Ireland would have no regular DP World Tour player next year.
21-year-old star Tom McKibbin doesn’t return to action until August 15th in the Czech Republic and he looks on course to secure one of the ten PGA Tour cards available at the end of the season via the Race to Dubai Rankings.
Having McKibbin on the PGA Tour would represent another rung on the ladder climbed on his way to stardom but would have also painted a harrowing picture for the future of Irish men’s golf in Europe.
Now, with Purcell set to progress to Europe’s top tier next season, such fears have been allayed for the moment. Although he may find himself as a Lone Ranger next year.
Ireland’s plight at DP World Tour level stretches into the Challenge Tour as well.
Prospects have been wearing thin ever since the ‘Famous Five’ of the 2015 Walker Cup failed to come to fruition.
27-year-old Purcell became the first Irishman to win on the Challenge Tour on Sunday since the now retired Michael Hoey won the co-sancrioned Madeira Islands Open in 2011.
Banbridge native Raymond Burns remains the only Irish player to win the Challenge Tour Order of Merit, earning his full European Tour playing rights in 1994.
Irish hopefuls have been few and far between on the Challenge Tour in recent years with only Cormac Sharvin (2019) and Tom McKibbin (2022) coming through. Having regular DP World Tour players is one thing but having players competing at the top end of the Challenge Tour have also been slim pickings.
Only Purcell progressed to the Challenge Tour Grand Final last season while just two more players finished inside the top-70 on the rankings to maintain full playing rights for this year.
But Purcell has always looked the most likely to claw his way to the top, with claw being the operative word. He has done it the hard way, the 2019 Walker Cup star turned professional in the midst of the Covid pandemic and had the start to his dream curtailed.
The Portmarnock man had to come through the Alps Tour in 2022 where he performed well enough to earn some starts on the Challenge Tour.
Always a man to grasp an opportunity, he impressed enough to earn a full card on the Challenge Tour for the 2023 season and after missing out on a DP World Tour card last year he was keen to move up a level this term which he has now reached.
This week the Challenge Tour rolls around to the K Club Palmer South course for the Irish Challenge where Purcell will be the main attraction alongside Gary Hurley who is looking to keep his own DP World Tour aspirations alive.
A list of players including Alex Maguire, Conor O’Rourke, Mark Power, John Murphy, Robert Moran, Ronan Mullarney and Daniel Mulligan are playing on an invite this week while K Club pro Liam Grehan and Simon Thornton have also been granted spots in the field.
Galway’s Liam Nolan is the only Irish amateur invite in the field as Jonathan Caldwell and Dermot McElroy complete the home interest.
Outside of Purcell, many of the above players do not hold full Challenge Tour cards and will be eyeing up a trip to DP World Tour Q-School in November.