Renato Paratore endured the agony of failing to retain his DP World Tour card at the end of the regular season, and that has been compounded by his efforts to regain it at Q-school.
When Paratore holed a 60-foot putt in the 72nd and final hole of the last regular event of the season, the Portugal Masters, he was understandably ecstatic. However, that joy quickly turned to despair for the Italian when it transpired that, despite those late heroics, it wasn’t enough for him to finish in the top 117 of the DP World Tour Rankings and retain his card for next season.
What made matters worse was the fact that Paratore’s 270 for the tournament left him stranded in 118th, just one shot worse than what was required to reach the all-important position. Undeterred, Paratore opted to go to Q-school rather than join the Challenge Tour as he sought to find another route to getting his full card back.
Paratore was exempt until the this week’s final stage at the Lakes Course at Infinitum Resort in Spain, when he shot a closing round of 64. However, once again fate conspired against the 25-year-old, ensuring he missed out on getting his full card back. The margin? One shot.
Paratore embarked on a punishing schedule of 29 DP World Tour events over the season. After several missed cuts in the opening months, his form improved dramatically in August with a tie for third at the Cazoo Open in Wales followed by a tie for fourth at the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland. At that point, few would have predicted his season would end at Q-school, and it would have seemed almost inconceivable that his appearance in it would lead to his second agonising finish in a matter of weeks.
In the end, Paratore’s full DP World Tour card eluded him, leaving the unfortunate player to dwell on missing out by the finest of margins not once, but twice.
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