Coloradan Davis Bryant regains preferred DP World Tour status with another top-10 finish in final stage of Q-school
By Gary Baines – 11/12/2025
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before:
Golfer from Colorado goes to the final stage of DP World Tour Q-school at the Infinitum Golf Courses in Tarragona, Spain, finishes in the top 10 — and is the top American — and earns his tour card for the following season.
Davis Bryant of Aurora, the former Colorado State University golfer who won the 2024 Inspirato Colorado Open, nearly matched his feat of a year ago at the Q-school finals and will be the proud owner of a 2025-26 DP World Tour card. This time around, the 25-year-old former CGA Player of the Year tied for eighth place out of a 156-man field on Wednesday, making the grade as one of the 20 players who earned Category 18 status on the former European Tour.
This comes a year after Bryant placed third in Q-school at the same site — albeit following some course changes since 2024 — to earn his 2024-25 DP World Tour card. He was the top American finisher last year as well.
The bottom line is Bryant will be a regular on the DP World Tour for the second straight year. The 2025-26 season begins Nov. 27-30 at the BMW Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane. He’ll also be fully exempt on the HotelPlanner Tour — when he doesn’t get into the field for a popular DP World Tour event.
“After battling some ups and downs the last few months with some missed cuts and not getting into some tournaments, (I’m) super pleased to gain full status back on the DPWT next season,” Bryant told Colorado Golf Journal via text on Wednesday. “(I’m) extremely excited to compete on golf’s global tour, and to have a whole year of experience under my belt will be huge.”
After being in third place going into the final round of the six-round Q-school event, Bryant endured some nerve-racking moments on Wednesday afternoon before a strong finish gave him a little breathing room. Following a bogey on the 13th hole of the final round, he was just a stroke above the cut line that separates those who would receive preferred status for next season vs. much-less-desirable status.
But after standing 3 over par through 15 holes, Bryant moved back into the top 10 by making birdies on the 16th and 17th holes and parring No. 18.
“Roller coaster of a day, that’s for sure,” he said. “The first five rounds were flawless and was able to be in position going into the final day that if any mistakes happened, I had a little bit of a cushion. (It was) definitely an emotional day with some poor swings, but (I’m) happy with how I bounced back and played the last four holes really well to secure my card. (I’m) excited to get going in a couple of weeks Down Under!”
Bryant rode stellar third and fifth rounds — 10-under-par 62 and 7-under 64 at different courses, both bogey-free — to finish at 20 under par overall, 17 strokes behind medalist Zander Lombard of South Africa, who won the Q-school finals by a whopping 13 strokes.
Over the six rounds, Bryant made an eagle, 29 birdies, nine bogeys and a double bogey.
Bryant, who grew up at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in northeast Denver, played 18 tournaments on the DP World Tour this past season, with two top-10 finishes — both coming in early summer — including a fourth place at the BMW International Open. He also played in eight HotelPlanner Tour events — the European equivalent of the Korn Ferry Tour — with a fourth place and a sixth on that circuit.
The Eaglecrest High School graduate finished 126th on the 2024-25 DP World Tour rankings. Placing in the top 115 was necessary to keep relatively full status.
Bryant competed in the Inspirato Colorado Open in July. (file photo)
Bryant has long been one of the best young golfers from Colorado. As a junior player, he 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.
Last year as a pro, besides winning the Colorado Open, Bryant claimed titles in the Wyoming State Open and a tournament in Nebraska.
Meanwhile, two other players with some significant ties to Colorado did not fare so well in the Q-school finals in Spain. Former University of Colorado golfer Yannik Paul, a regular on the DP World Tour for the last four years who won once on that circuit in 2022, missed the 72-hole cut by one in Spain (69-67-76-69–281) after finishing 121st in the 2024-25 rankings. And former northern Colorado resident Dan Erickson, who earned a DP World Tour card a year ago in Q-school, missed the cut by two this week (76-69-64-73–282). He was 151st in the 2024-25 DPWT rankings.
Paul will have conditional DP World Tour status in 2025-26 — along with HotelPlanner Tour status, while Erickson will have less-favorable DP World conditional status and HotelPlanner status this coming season.
How each player with significant Colorado ties fared in the final stage of DP World Tour Q-school in Tarragona, Spain:
Earned Category 18 Playing Privileges for 2025-26 Season
Davis Bryant of Aurora, a former CSU golfer 72-68-62-70-64-72—408
Missed 72-Hole Cut
61. Former CU golfer Yannik Paul 69-67-76-69–281
74. Former northern Colorado resident Dan Erickson 76-69-64-73—282
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