DAVID HIGGINS CLINCHED his return to the European Tour next season with a cool head on the sixth and final day of the marathon Q School qualifier in Girona.
On one of the most intense days in the golfing calendar, Higgins teed up this morning at the PGA Catalunya Resort tied for 22nd and perilously close to the 25-man cut-off needed to secure his card for the first time since 2006.
Two days short of his 40th birthday, the Waterville native got the job done and finished with a flourish including three birdies in a four-hole stretch as the heat came on down the back nine.
In a round bookended by bogeys, not even a closing five on the 18th could spoil the celebrations as Higgins shot 70 to finish safely clear of the danger zone in a tie for 16th on seven-under-par.
England’s John Parry also finished his qualification bid in style on 19-under, four shots clear of runner-up Mikael Lundberg of Sweden.
Among the big names to miss out on qualification were Oliver Wilson and Peter Hedblom, both of whom finished two strokes shy of the qualifying mark of five-under-par.
