Journeyman planned to retire, but a fairytale win gives him DP World Tour status while his teenage son was on the bag

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[Photo: Aitor Alcalde]

This was supposed to be James Morrison’s last event. The 40-year-old journeyman from England has won twice on the DP World Tour during his career and now, playing on the secondary Hotel Planner Tour, he was ready to call it quits.

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“When I said this was going to be my last event, it really was going to be, 100 percent,” an emotional Morrison said. “This has completely messed that up.”

This refers to an out-of-nowhere victory. Morrison entered the final round of the Hotel Planner Tour’s Rolex Grand Final with a three-shot lead, shot 70 and cruised to a three-shot victory at Alcanada Golf Club in Mallorca, Spain. The win moved him up and into sixth position in the tour’s season-long standings, which means he earned full status for the DP World Tour in 2026.

And Morrison did all of this with his 13-year-old son Finley alongside as his caddie.

“I feel sorry for him really,” Morrison said of his son. “He’s got a half-past-six alarm for school tomorrow morning. He’s amazing. I love him. He did so well.”

Dad did pretty well himself.

A mediocre 71 to start had Morrison off the pace, but rounds of 67-65 over the next two days vaulted him to the top with 18 holes remaining. The third-round 65 was flawless, producing a bogey-free performance with seven birdies, including four in his first seven holes of the day.

On the final day, Morrison made a nervy bogey on the second hole before making five birdies over the next 10 holes to steady the ship and gain control of the tournament. Thankfully for him, a bogey on the home hole still gave him the three-shot victory.

“I’m glad it’s over with,” he said. “I played nicely all week. Didn’t play as well today but managed my emotions and dug into my memory bank with my wins on the DP World Tour. The wind blowing really helped me today because I knew the harder it got, the more it would play into my hands a little bit. I knew if I could keep ticking along, I could get away from the field a bit.”

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James Morrison celebrates with his wife Jessica, with son Finley looking on, after James won the Rolex Grand Final to earn DP World Tour status for 2026. [Photo: Octavio Passos]

Morrison’s two victories on the European Tour came at the 2010 Madeira Islands Open and the 2015 Spanish Open where he topped Miguel Angel Jimenez and Francesco Molinari. He played 15 consecutive seasons on the tour before losing his status last year.

This season has mostly been a struggle. Morrison missed his first eight cuts of the year and nine of the first 10. But then he won in France to show him that he still had some game left in him. Since that victory he has played in 12 events, missed five cuts and collected only one top-20 finish.

That was until Sunday, when the magic happened and Morrison mustered enough for another victory to make him go into the offseason contemplating if he still wants to retire or go through the grind one more time.

“I haven’t got a tour bag. I haven’t got a caddie,” Morrison said. “I’m going to have to figure some stuff out.”