Final-round 62 gives Davis Bryant his DP World Tour card as Coloradan finishes third — by far the best showing by an American — in final stage of Q-school; Dan Erickson, who has significant ties to northern Colorado, also lands DPWT status
By Gary Baines – 11/14/2024
To borrow a song title from Steppenwolf, the magic carpet ride Davis Bryant has been on the last several months hit heights previously unseen on Thursday as the Aurora resident not only earned a 2024-25 DP World Tour card, but nearly won the final stage of qualifying.
The former Colorado State University golfer capped his magical ride to exempt status on the European-based tour by closing with a bogey-free 9-under-par 62 on Thursday to place third in the 156-man field in Tarragona, Spain. Besides securing a spot on the DPWT, Davis earned 9,500 euros (just over $10,000) for the showing.
“I am beyond thrilled and excited to see my success this week and earn my DP World Tour Card for next season,” Bryant said in a text to Colorado Golf Journal on Thursday. “To have a little taste of success this summer and see my game round into solid form, to now have the chance to play against the best players in the world is amazing. Can’t wait to do so!”
Qualifying for the DP World Tour through Q-school “changed my life,” Bryant told Monday Q Info earlier Thursday in a video. “… Q-school is a great thing about our sport. It doesn’t matter how you’re playing or what you’re doing or what you did the last six months, you get hot and play well at the right time — it’s pretty cool. Sweet.”
And Bryant, who grew up at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver, wasn’t the only player with significant Colorado ties to finish on a very high note and land a DPWT card. Dan Erickson — who has links to TPC Colorado along with his family, which has lived in Loveland/Berthoud for the last six years — carded a 63 on Thursday. That vaulted the former Texas A&M golfer into the top 20 and ties — the number who earned DP World Tour status — as he ended up in 12th place on Thursday, good for 3,248 euros in addition to his card.
“It’s amazing,” an emotional Erickson told the DP World Tour website. “It’s been a long couple of years playing all over the world. It’s a one-of-a-kind round I put out there today. I wish my family could be here with me to celebrate, but I’ll be back tomorrow so it’ll be a good time. (The round was) special. It’s definitely something no matter how I play golf the rest of my life, it’s something I’ll never forget; that’s for sure.”
Dan Erickson made two eagles in his final six holes on Thursday.
Like Bryant, Erickson went bogey-free in the final round, in his case making two eagles over his final six holes — a deuce on the par-4 13th and a 6-foot putt on the par-5 18th at Infinitum Golf. Back in 2018, Erickson used a 61 at Fort Collins Country Club en route to qualifying for the U.S. Amateur, and he competed in the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour event at TPC Colorado.
As for Bryant, in Spain he ended up at 27 under par for six rounds — which left him two strokes behind medalist Edoardo Molinari, a three-time winner on the DP World Tour — while Erickson checked in at 19 under. Niklas Lemke of Sweden (28 under) finished second on Thursday.
For Bryant, the showing continues a remarkable run of success that started four months ago. During that time, he’s won the the Wyoming State Open, the Inspirato Colorado Open and a tournament in Nebraska, besides advancing to the upcoming second stage of PGA Tour Q-school.
Bryant won the Inspirato Colorado Open in July. (file photo)
Just a week after needing a birdie in a playoff to get one of the final spots in the final stage of DP World Tour qualifying, Bryant was the top American finisher on Thursday — by seven strokes. The 24-year-old recorded nine birdies in his bogey-free round of 62 on Thursday. For the six rounds of the final stage, he made 36 birdies and nine bogeys.
While the last four months have been stellar for Bryant, he’s long been one of the best young golfers from Colorado. As a junior player, the student-athlete from Eaglecrest High School won all four Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado majors in which he competed in 2017 and ’18, claimed the 5A state title in 2017 and was named the 2017 JGAC Boys Player of the Year. In 2018 he helped Colorado win the Junior America’s Cup team title for the first time ever. He went on to claim the 2019 CGA Amateur and earn CGA Player of the Year that season. He also won one individual title while at CSU and twice captured the Southwestern Amateur championship before turning pro after competing in the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club.
It should be noted that though Bryant now owns a 2024-25 DP World Tour card, he’s still in the running for a PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour spot for 2025. He’s scheduled to compete in the second stage of PGA Tour Q-school Dec. 3-6 in Valencia, Calif., where younger sister Emma, a University of Denver golfer, is planning to caddie for him. And if he’s successful there, he’ll advance to the final stage — Dec. 12-15 in Ponte Vedra, Fla. — where five PGA Tour cards (plus ties) will be up for grabs, with the next 40 finishers and ties earning some exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour, and the remaining players landing conditional status on the KFT.
But given that the DP World Tour begins its 2024-25 schedule on Nov. 21 at the BMW Australian PGA Championship, Bryant is trying to figure out his schedule for the coming month.
“I’m not sure at the moment,” he said in his text. “Currently trying to figure it out in the next day or 2. I would love to play in the first few events in Australia and South Africa but need to decide about Korn Ferry Stage 2 at Valencia as well.”
Like Bryant, Erickson has secured a spot in the second stage of PGA Tour Q-school.
Meanwhile, Kent Denver graduate and 2010 CGA Player of the Year Gunner Wiebe, a regular on the DP World Tour the last two years, fell short of regaining his card on Thursday. He went 72-68-68-70-68-70 for a 12-under-par total in Spain, which left him in 50th place at the final stage of Q-school.
For all the scores from the final stage of DP World Tour Q-school, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com