<p>Niall Kearney</p>
Royal Dublin’s Niall Kearney confirmed his return to the HotelPlanner Tour as former LIV star Jose Luis Ballester and Spanish compatriot Rocco Repetto Taylor topped the graduates at the Final Stage of DP World Tour Qualifying School in Spain.
While Kearney was not among the 20 players who earned their DP World Tour cards at Infinitum in Tarragona, he earned HotelPlanner Tour membership in Category 13 for the 2027 season.
The former Irish PGA champion (38) closed with a three-under 68 on the Lakes Course to finish joint 57th on 18-under
He was two shots short of winning Category 9 membership of the second-tier tour awarded to the top 40, but seven shots outside the top 15 and ties who won their DP World Tour cards.
Ballester (23) and Repetto Taylor (23) carded matching rounds of six under par 65 to top the leaderboard by one stroke from Australia's Cameron John on 32 under.
"It's super exciting and I am super proud of the job that myself and my caddie did throughout the week," said former US Amateur champion Ballester, who made headlines worldwide when he urinated in a tributary of Rae's Creek during the 2025 Masters.
Ballester, who went on to win $10.5m as a member of Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs team at LIV Golf, will be joined on the DP World Tour by former LIV players Ben An and John Catlin.
Repetto Taylor, whose mother hails from Glasthule in Dublin, returns to the DP World Tour after finishing 152nd in the Race to Dubai this season.
Spain’s Ivan Cantero fired a bogey-free 64 to finish tied fourth alongside England's Tom Lewis, who only got into the field after winning a play-off at Second Stage earlier this month.
Seven players, including Catlin and Ryder Cup vice-captain Edoardo Molinari, tied for 14th to get their cards on the number.
The seven included Germany's Phillip Katich, who shot a nine-under 62 to join Sweden’s David Nyfjall, France’s Paul Beauvy and American Jansen Preston in coming through all three stages of Q-School.
Q-School graduates: Jose Luis Ballester (Esp), Rocco Repetto Taylor (Esp), Cameron John (Aus), Ivan Cantero (Esp), Tom Lewis (Eng), Adam Blomme (Swe), David Nyfjall (Swe), Byeong Hun An (Kor), Jannik de Bruyn (Ger), Ryan Lumsden (Sco), Paul Beauvy (Fra), Marcus Helligkilde (Den), Albin Bergstrom (Swe), Philipp Katich (Ger), John Catlin (USA), Niklas Lemke (Swe), Ben Schmidt (Eng), Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Jansen Preston (USA) and Matteo Cristoni (Ita).
Article Link: Kearney secures HotelPlanner status at Q-School - News - Irish Golf Desk