Dubai’s Thomas paired with two-time Desert Classic champion at Q School
The 24-year-old is hoping to secure his DP World Tour playing privileges
Dubai-born star Rayhan Thomas will play with two-time Dubai Desert Classic champion Stephen Gallacher for the first two rounds at the Final Stage of DP World Tour Qualifying School at INFINITUM Golf, Tarragona, Spain.
Thomas, who turned professional earlier this year, has already had to come through two stages to secure his place in Spain, where he will be hoping to finish inside the top 20 and ties to secure playing privileges on the DP World Tour for next season.
The Final Stage, which gets underway on Friday 8th November, takes places over six rounds and two courses at INFINITUM. Each player will play two rounds over the club’s Lakes and Hills courses before a 72-hole cut is made.
The final two rounds will then see the remaining players battle it out to finish in the top 20.
Joining the 90 qualifiers from the previous two stages are 62 DP World Tour and European Challenge Tour players already exempt at Final Stage.
Last year's winner Freddy Schott agonisingly dropped out of the top 114 on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex at the regular season finale so he returns to defend his title alongside four-time DP World Tour winner Wu Ashun, the only other player in the field who also fell the wrong side of that line at the Genesis Championship.
Scotland's Gallacher is joined by fellow Ryder Cup players Oliver Wilson, Chris Wood and Edoardo Molinari - who is currently serving as a Vice Captain to Luke Donald.
Multiple DP World Tour winners Eddie Pepperell, James Morrison, Renato Paratore, David Horsey, Justin Harding, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño, Marc Warren, George Coetzee, Lee Slattery and Tom Lewis are also in the field along with a host of rising stars.
Should Thomas secure his DP World Tour membership he could follow in the footsteps of a host of stars names who have kickstarted their career at Qualifying School since the inaugural contest in 1976.
Colin Montgomerie, Sandy Lyle, Justin Rose and Miguel Ángel Jiménez are just a few European greats to make it through ‘golf’s toughest test’ before going on to taste glory on the world stage.
In 2024, Joe Dean and Alfredo Garcia-Heredia both birdied the last to snatch a card at the death and this week they find themselves at the DP World Tour Play-Offs in Abu Dhabi.