Sam Jones and Haydn Barron earn DP World Tour cards
Haydn Barron – file photo Australian Golf Media
New Zealand’s Sam Jones and West Australian Haydn Barron have secured the right to play the DP World Tour next season by finishing inside the top 25 and ties following the completion of 108 holes in Tarragona, Spain.
In all 33 players finished inside the required mark.
27-year-old Jones, from Taranaki in New Zealand’s North Island, played collegiate golf in the US but has won on New Zealand’s Charles Tour as an amateur and this year represented New Zealand at the World Amateur Teams Championship (Eisenhower Trophy).
Jones finished in a very impressive 7th place this week while Barron tied for 10th place in the exhaustive qualifying process.
Jones’ performance was made even more meritorious as he went through all three stages of qualifying to claim his DP World Tour card.
Barron, who finished 4th at last year’s Australian Open in Melbourne and earned the right to play the Open Championship this year, gave an indication his game was in good shape when he finished runner-up at the recent West Australian PGA Championship in Kalgoorlie.
When asked how he felt after securing his card Barron would say; “I don’t know really. It has been a stressful week. I just tried to hang in there and make pars but I am just so happy. It’s a dream to play the DP World Tour and am just speechless.”
West Australians Hayden Hopewell and Connor McKinney made the 72-hole cut but finished outside the required mark and will earn conditional status.
