Ricardo Gouveia admitted he arrived in South Korea with “no expectations” after earning his DP World Tour playing privileges for next season with a remarkable performance at the Genesis Championship.
The Portuguese had made only 11 cuts of the 28 previous events he had started before the final tournament on the Back 9 at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, where it was the last chance for players to secure their card for 2025.
The top 114 following Sunday’s final round ensured another campaign at the top tier, but Gouveia was in a precarious of 154th on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex before his first tee.
He needed a top five finish to do so, which seemed unlikely after he recorded only a season best of tied for 23rd before this event.
However, the 33-year-old was never out of contention in Incheon and Gouveia took the outright lead with four holes remaining on Sunday.
A bogey at the 16th saw him slip back to 16 under, but that was enough to seal third place and another year on Tour.
“I’m obviously over the moon just to keep my rights for next year, it’s unbelievable,” Gouveia said.
“I was trying to win the tournament, but at the same time, the last few holes I knew what my position was so a mix of emotions but so happy, over the moon.
“I just came with no expectations. I played well last week but finished poorly, but I came with no expectations and I think this course suited my game. I drove the ball well all week, I hit a lot of nice shots into the greens and I putted much better this week – that was the difference.
“To be honest, I only thought on 18 about that (not blowing up and losing my card) on the second shot. The whole layout I was trying to win the golf tournament and I think that’s what kept me close to the top of the leaderboard. I think that was key today.”
Marco Penge endured a roller coaster of emotions throughout the week, which started when he needed to birdie the last on Friday to make the cutline.
He duly obliged to boost his chances – he began the week in the ominous position of 115th – before a flawless 67 in the final round saw him finish in a tie for 22nd place and secure his card.
“I feel unbelievable. Today was probably the best I’ve played all year really,” Penge said.
“To play the way I did today under the pressure that I was under, yeah, pretty speechless at the moment. Just over the moon tthat it’s done to be honest, I can’t wait to get home and spend some time with my wife and son.
“My son was born four and a half months ago and I feel like I’ve only been with him for about a week, so these times are worth it.
“The pressure that us guys have to deal with is immense, especally when you are trying to keep your card out here. It’s my first year out here and I don’t want to fall back, I feel like I deserve to be here and I feel like good enough to be here.
“I’ve just enjoyed every moment of it, with my family and just everything, so the last six weeks have been a bit nervy, but what I did is just work as hard as I possibly could and at the end of the day that’s all you can do and hopefully that takes care of everything else.”
Ivan Cantero was another who started the tournament below the cut-off line at 117th, but kept his head above water by taking the first round lead in Asia.
The Spaniard maintained his fantastic start by carding four consecutive under par rounds as he come home in a tie for sixth and climb into the top 100 in the Race to Dubai Rankings.
“I’m crazy. I played really solid all today,” Cantero beamed. “I was very nervous on the first, second and third day, but today not so much.
“Everything was under control, I’ve had a really good year and I’m very happy. An amazing feeling.
“Impossible to describe the nerves I’ve had all week. Today was hard, because all time in my head it was ‘you miss, you miss, you miss’, but I played really good.”
