After enduring difficult conditions and unrelenting pressure in the final stage of DP World Tour Q School, James Nicholas was left twisting in the wind.
For two emotional hours, the 26-year-old Scarsdale native was a mess.
“Oh my gosh,” said Nicholas, who played his way into contention with a final-round 67 at Infinitum Golf and Beach Club in Spain. “We finished the round, I thought it was gonna be very, very close, but I didn’t like my chances. I went to member orientation, came out and did some interviews, and checked the leaderboard again. I was still T19 and thinking maybe I did have a chance.”
He went looking for his caddie.
“After like 10 or 15 minutes, I finally found him sitting inside with the curtains down,” Nicholas continued. “He’s like, ‘I’m not watching anybody finish on 18. I just can’t.’ I’m anxious so I wanted to see what’s happening, so I watched players three-putt for bogey, make eagles, and hit into the water.”
Only the top 25 finishers, including ties, earn status on the DP World Tour for the 2024 season.
Nicholas had no way to gauge the impact of each birdie and bogey. After spending four up-and-down years chasing a dream of playing full-time, the former Ivy League player of the year at Yale knew a spot on the European tour could be life-changing.
When he wasn’t on FaceTime with his girlfriend, America Richmond, he was on the phone with anxious family members and friends.
A bogey late in the final round was becoming more and more difficult to look past.
“They live and breathe every swing,” Nicholas said of the folks at home. “I think it was nice for them having that time difference because when they woke up, I was on 15 so there was no praying or voodoo or anything until the final holes. I FaceTimed America once I finished and kind of told her I blew it. She was crying and upset for me, but was telling me that whatever happened, I was going to be OK.”
Optimism began to increase with each passing minute.
“After kind of telling everybody, ‘We’ll see. We’ll see. We’ll see,’ it started looking better and better and better,” said Nicholas, who’s made 39 Korn Ferry Tour starts since turning pro in 2019. “My smile got bigger and bigger and bigger, and I started walking faster and faster and faster. I was like, ‘Well, I might actually be a full member of the DP World Tour. All week, I was one shot back, one shot back, one shot back. I was never inside the top 25 until the…
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