Who are the 13 Scottish golfers facing Spanish test in DP World Tour card battle?

The Second Stage of the circuit’s annual Qualifying School is taking place at four venues - Desert Springs in Almeria, Isla Canela Links in Huelva, Golf Las Pinaillas in Albacete and Fontanals in Girona.

The 72-hole events get underway on Thursday, with all the players taking part bidding to make it through to the six-round Final Stage the following week at Infinitum Golf in Tarragona.

Comprising a mix of players who came up short in the battle to make next week’s Challenge Tour Grand Final in Mallorca and some who have already come through the First Stage, most of the Scots involved in the Second Stage are heading to Desert Springs.

They include three-time Challenge Tour winner - two of those successes came on Spanish soil - Liam Johnston and Craig Howie, who finished 87th in this season’s Road to Mallorca rankings.

Others flying the Saltire at that venue include Sandy Scott and Sam Locke, who have already secured Korn Ferry Tour and Challenge Tour cards respectively for next season.

In contrast, fellow Desert Springs hopefuls Kieran Cantley, John Henry and James Ross will all be aiming to keep on course in their bids to be playing on the Challenge Tour at least next season but, even better, the DP World Tour.

Connor McKinney, who was born in Kirkcaldy but now represents Australia, is also teeing up at the Almeria venue, as is Irishman Paul Dunne, who held off Rory McIlroy to win the 2017 British Masters at Close House.

Flying solo at Isla Canela Links, meanwhile, will be Ryan Lumsden, who was in with a chance of making the 45-man field for the Challenge Tour Grand Final before ending up in 68th spot in the season-long standings.

His rivals are set to include two-time DP World Tour winner Tom Lewis, 2022 Farmfoods Scottish Challenge champion Javier Sainz and Jacob Skov Olesen, the Dane who won the Amateur Championship at Ballyliffin earlier this year.

It’s a return to a happy hunting ground for in-form Calum Fyfe - he shared top spot in the First Stage at Donnington Grove in Newbury before winning the Tartan Pro Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen - at Fontanals, where he passed the same test last year and is being joined on this occasion by Jack McDonald and John Paterson.

Ayrshireman McDonald, who qualified for The Open at Royal Troon in the summer, definitely showed signs of making some headway on the Challenge Tour this season while Paterson came through the First Stage in Sweden.

The Fontanals field also includes Englisman Oliver Fisher, the first player to shoot 59 on the DP World Tour, and Spaniard Alvaro Quiros, a seven-time winner on the main tour.

Graeme Robertson, who, like Locke, has secured a 2025 Challenge Tour card through the Tartan Pro Tour Order of Merit, will be in action at Golf Las Pinaillas, where he will be flying the Saltire along with Callum Bruce after the Banff man safely cleared his first hurdle at The Players Club in Bristol.

Swede Jonas Blixt, a three-time PGA Tour winner, will be among those up against Robertson and Bruce, as will Welshman James Ashfield, who played in last year’s Walker Cup at St Andrews and has secured his spot through the Global Amateur Pathway Ranking.