Jack is aiming for place on DP Tour after latest success

DUNGANNON’S Jack Madden is in the enviable position of having what is potentially his worst option for 2025 being a pretty good one as he heads into DP Tour Q-School in France this week.

After winning the Clutch Tour’s T2 Order of Merit last week, he is guaranteed a minimum of five starts on the Challenge Tour next year, but should he succeed outside Paris this week, then in Spain at the next stage of Q-School to reach the final step in November, then things will get even better.

There are 20 cards on offer at that final stage, so Jack knows he needs to finish inside the top 20 in each of the next three events to achieve that. However, he knows it’s far from that easy with the final of Q-School taking place over six rounds against 150 other hungry young professionals.

And there’s no reason why he can’t be one of the final 20 to reach the top, given his consistency and form so far in 2024.

Already this year, things have gone according to plan for Jack, who aimed to top the T2 Order of Merit, which he did and he also achieved the added bonus of making it to final qualifying for the Open and he qualified to play on an Asian Tour event.

“I fell like I have qualified for a lot of these things early on in my career, which is nice, so I feel that I’m getting the opportunities and it’s nice to know I’m getting five [Challenge Tour events next year] minimum and maybe if Golf Ireland or someone feels I deserve a couple more, that would add to it,

“That settles your mind knowing you have five really good opportunities that if you play well during it can change your career. It’s a little different to having just one a year and you put all your eggs in the basket. When you have five you can feel a little bit more comfortable with it and I believe if I can make five out of five cuts, that might qualify me for some kind of status.

“So it will be about going and playing as well as I can on those five events and seeing where I end up. It’s something to look forward to and at the start of the year that was the main aim, to win that Order of Merit and get those five starts.

“Everything else I do at Q-School will be a bonus and everything else I have done this year in terms of qualifying for the Open finals and that Asian Tour event have been bonuses. “I feel like I’m playing a bit better to last year when I missed out by a couple, there’s been definite progression. My scoring average is down to 69.5, which from last year it was 73.5, so that’s a four shot swing, which has really made a big difference.

“It’s been a big success this year and I’m very happy with everything.”

While the DP Tour [formerly known as the European Tour] is is main aim over the next few weeks, Jack knows that if he makes it to the final stage of Q-School he has a great chance of earning at least the back-up of a full Challenge Tour card if he falls short in his bid for the DP Tour.

“If I can get to final stage and make the cut after four rounds everyone there gets a Challenge Tour card,” he explained. “So there are 12 rounds of golf between me and full Challenge Tour status, so if I go and manage my mind well like I have been doing then there’s no reason why I can’t go and do that.”

But he admits it’s nice to have the insurance policy of the five starts already in his back pocket ahead of the first round of Q-School action this week.

“That eases the Q-School pressure because I have those [five starts] secured whereas 99 per cent of other people going to Q-School don’t have those, so it’s everything for them,” Jack said.

“I’m still playing for everything too because I can walk away with a full DP Tour card if I play well for three weeks but it’s nice to have those in your back pocket going to Q-School.”

*Wet weather has hampered Jack’s start at Q-School with a first round of 76 in difficult conditions leaving him on four-over-par, while it looks unlikely that he will even get on course today (Wednesday).