DP World Tour Q-School: Pieters and Siem Battle for a Tour Card

The Final Stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School will take place from November 6 to 11, 2026, at INFINITUM in Tarragona, Spain. 156 players will compete over six rounds. The top 15 players, including those tied for that position, will earn Category 18 playing privileges on the DP World Tour, as well as full playing privileges on the HotelPlanner Tour for the 2027 season. The field includes six-time DP World Tour winner Thomas Pieters, Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal with nine titles, and, representing Germany, Marcel Siem, Maximilian Schmitt, and Jannik de Bruyn. Three LIV pros, however, have already failed to advance to the Final Stage after the Second Stage. In 2026, Q-School will also celebrate its 50th anniversary: it was first held in 1976.

Thomas Pieters: Back at Q-School After 13 Years

For Pieters, this is his first Q-School since 2013. The Belgian has played in the Ryder Cup and is the only Rolex Series winner in the field: in 2022, he won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. In mid-October , he left LIV Golf, along with Charles Howell III, as reported by greenfeed.news. Because the DP World Tour will no longer grant exemptions to LIV players for 2027, his path back to Europe leads through Tarragona.

Pieters isn’t the only player with LIV ties in the field. These include Spaniards Jose Luis Ballester and Luis Masaveu, both from the Fireballs GC; Australian Elvis Smylie; Korean Byeong Hun An from the Korean GC, who won the Genesis Championship in 2024; and Mun Do-yeob. Smylie lost his status when his exemption as a tournament winner expired at the end of the 2026 regular season. Ballester, as an affiliate member with an exemption, advanced directly to the Final Stage after withdrawing from the Second Stage.

Masaveu had lost the playoff at Golf Las Pinaillas on Monday, November 2, and believed he had already been eliminated. He then learned via email that he could join the field as the first alternate.

Larrazabal and Siem: Two Veterans Fighting for Their Futures

Larrazabal lost his full playing privileges last month. The nine-time tournament winner aims to play his 20th consecutive season on the DP World Tour—and is returning to a place that holds special meaning for him: in 2022, he won the ISPS HANDA Championship at INFINITUM. He earned his first Tour card back in 2007 through Q-School. Marcel Siem brings even more experience to the table. With 594 starts, the German is the most experienced active player on the Tour. In 2026, however, he failed to record a top-10 finish—for the first time since 2018. Together, Larrazabal and Siem bring 15 titles and 1,067 tournament starts to the event.

From a German perspective, another name has been added to the field: Yannik Paul, a 2023 candidate for the Ryder Cup team, made the cut as a alternate after a playoff on Monday. In the Second Stage, he had initially fallen one stroke short.

A total of 21 players in the field have already won on the DP World Tour. Among them are Ross Fisher, Alexander Levy, Renato Paratore, John Catlin, David Horsey, Thomas Aiken, Fabrizio Zanotti, Kalle Samooja, Simon Forsstrom, and Edoardo Molinari. The Italian won the Final Stage in 2024. Also competing are Dale Whitnell, who is returning after taking a break of over a year to prioritize his mental health, Daniel Gavins, Adri Arnaus, and Tom Lewis. Byeong Hun An, who won the first of his two Tour titles at the 2015 BMW PGA Championship and the second in 2024, is one of the most prominent international players.

Schmitt and de Bruyn Advance; LIV Pros Fall Short

The road to Tarragona was long. In the First Stage, which began in August, 746 players competed in ten events across seven countries; 182 advanced. In the Second Stage, 321 players—including 15 amateurs—battled for 80 spots.

The Second Stage took place from October 29 to November 1 at four locations in Spain: Desert Springs in Almería, Isla Canela Links in Huelva, Golf Las Pinaillas in Albacete, and Fontanals Golf Club in Girona. At all four venues, a playoff was necessary to determine the participants for the Final Stage. At Fontanals, Maximilian Schmitt and Jannik de Bruyn advanced; Anthony Quayle won there with a score of 18 under Par. Schmitt finished second. De Bruyn is familiar with this situation: in 2023, he finished first in the Second Stage at Desert Springs.

At Desert Springs, Ahmad Baig shot 27 under Par and won by a five-stroke margin. This week, the Pakistani player has the chance to become the first golfer from his country to earn DP World Tour membership. A total of 50 players have advanced from the First Stage to the Final Stage. Other qualifiers include Jack Hawksby, Kieran Vincent, Jack Yule, and Albin Bergstrom; from Las Pinaillas, Albert Boneta, George Bloor, Lars van Meijel, and Patrick Cover; from Isla Canela, Callum Tarren and Adri Arnaus; and Dutchman Jerry Ji, who won there. Evan Knight prevailed in a playoff on Monday. Four amateurs also made the cut: Dean Greyserman, brother of PGA Tour pro Max Greyserman; the Argentine duo Mateo Pulcini and Segundo Oliva Pinto; and American Nathan Wang.

Three LIV players were eliminated. England’s Sam Horsfield finished tied for 52nd at Isla Canela with a score of three under Par. Michael La Sasso, who won the 2026 LIV Indianapolis, finished tied for 64th at Desert Springs. Japan’s Yosuke Asaji tied for 21st at 12 under Par and missed qualification by one stroke.

How the Final Stage in Tarragona Works

Q-School consists of three stages and has been taking place across several countries since August. The Final Stage is the last of these. In the first four rounds, each participant plays twice on both the Lakes Course and the Hills Course. After Monday comes the cut: The top 60 and those tied for the 60th spot advance to the final two rounds, which are played on Tuesday and Wednesday on the Lakes Course. If there is a tie for the last qualifying spots, a playoff will decide the outcome. Following a renovation this year, the Hills Course measures 7,056 yards (Par 72), and the Lakes Course measures 7,001 yards (Par 71).

“Anyone who makes it through the three-stage process will undoubtedly be ready to play on the Tour in 2027,” said Gary Butler, Director of Qualifying School, when announcing the schedule. INFINITUM is hosting the Final Stage for the eighth consecutive year. “We are very pleased to host the Final Stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School for the eighth consecutive time,” said Joaquín Mora Bertrán, Deputy General Manager for Golf, Beach Club, and Food and Beverage at the resort.

How the LIV ban is changing Q-School

The fact that Q-School is attracting so many big names this year is due to the DP World Tour’s decision in October. On October 12 and 13, it was announced that the Tour would no longer grant exemptions to LIV players for 2027. Players who hold status on the DP World Tour and play on LIV cannot retain both. Players without status must qualify through Q-School or secure a contract via sponsor invitations, which is only available to players who do not compete in LIV 2.0. Read more about the background to the ban and its implications for the Ryder Cup here.

“Players have to choose,” Tour CEO Guy Kinnings told the BBC in October. “We have rules and regulations designed to protect our Tour, and all our members must abide by them.” Kinnings added: “Players who are not willing to abide by our rules and regulations should not seek a spot on our Tour.” According to Golf.com, Rory McIlroy called the suspension a “good decision.” LIV Golf, which has been restructuring under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since September, accused the Tour of deliberately interfering with this restructuring.

Outlook: Six rounds until the decision on November 11

The first round begins on Friday, November 6, and the decision will be made on Wednesday, November 11. For the top 15 and those tied for that position, two things are at stake: playing opportunities on the DP World Tour and full playing privileges on the 2027 HotelPlanner Tour, for which five players have recently qualified via the Pro Golf Tour. The number of cards available has decreased: Last year, the top 20 qualified; before that, it was the top 25. However, those who secure a card are not starting without a chance: In Category 18, the best players can reclassify themselves through strong performances over the course of the 2027 season. Four graduates from the 2025 class made it to the DP World Tour playoffs. A few days after the final, on November 16, the deadline for membership applications to the DP World Tour expires.