To come through Qualifying School and earn a place on the DP World Tour is an examination of endurance as much as it is skill.
For the second year running, American Davis Bryant has successfully passed that test and is readying himself for another go on golf’s global tour.
This time, the 25-year-old is better prepared for the challenge, and he has an even greater sense of anticipation.
Ahead of teeing it up in Sweden at First Stage Qualifying School last year, Bryant – who turned professional in the summer of 2023 – had never played outside of the United States, Canada or Mexico.
But he has since embraced the opportunity to call himself a global golfer, overcoming the disappointment of missing out on retaining his DP World Tour playing rights by coming through the demanding six-round Final Stage in Spain earlier this month.
“I was more relieved this year and more grateful,” he said.
“Just proud of myself for playing well in what is basically a last chance to set yourself up for next season.
"[Last year], I didn't probably know what I was getting myself into. That whole aspect of the travel, countries, languages and the cultures and not to mention trying to perform and make this a career."
Prior to teeing it up at the INFINITUM resort, Bryant was already guaranteed limited status for the 2026 DP World Tour season after finishing 126th on the Race to Dubai Rankings - 11 spots off retaining his status - in his rookie season.
That position would likely have offered only a handful of starts, meaning much of his schedule would have been built around the HotelPlanner Tour.
“When you have a goal in mind it makes it easier just to lock in and focus on what the job is and really the only job at Final Stage was to finish as high as I could,” he said.
“It was easier to play a little freer and focus on trying to improve the situation, my status for neat year.
"It obviously now makes scheduling a little easier knowing that I’m going to play pretty much a full season on the main Tour rather than having to bounce back and forth.”
Last season, Bryant made 26 appearances across both the DP World Tour and HotelPlanner Tours.
Across his 18 appearances on the DP World Tour, he made 11 cuts and secured two top tens. Both came in back-to-back weeks in Italy and Germany in the early summer, at which point he appeared on track to retain his playing rights.
But on the resumption of the campaign - after a short two-week break - at the Nexo Championship in Scotland, he made only one top 20 in his next seven starts.
The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship proved to be his final appearance before he was forced to turn his attention to the closing events of the year on the HotelPlanner Tour, with his membership category meaning he missed out on entry into the final events of the DP World Tour's Back 9.
Though there were setbacks and moments of solitude, Bryant looks back with real fondness on the friendships forged, the experiences shared, and the wide variety of golf courses he has tested himself on in the early stages of his professional career.
"I'm 25, I get to travel the world, see some places that some people just never get to see in their life for a week at a time, which is also pretty unique," he reflected.
"There are just so many Americans who don’t leave America. We have pretty much all we need in America and also not the same perspective as other countries."
I'm 25, I get to travel the world, see some places that some people just never get to see in their life for a week at a time, which is also pretty unique
Wherever his travels took him, Bryant was feeling the benefits.
He added: "Spending time on the HotelPlanner Tour this year has been so good.
"Those guys that are out there, without any status on the DP World Tour, know how important that tour is and how important their opportunity is to get to the next level. There is so much talent out there.
"To play professional golf on either tour, travel to the places we get to is incredible. I am trying to market and tell as many people I can to pursue this opportunity because it is (potentially) once in a lifetime."
Much is often made of European players heading to the United States to broaden their horizons, but Bryant has taken the opposite path.
In the space of a year he has gone from mini‑tour events at home to teeing it up alongside Major Champion Shane Lowry at his national open and carding a hole‑in‑one at the BMW International Open.
"Everyone asked me are you enjoying it? he said. Are you enjoying the travel?
"I tell them, yes. To do what we get to do is is extremely rewarding.
"Finishing fourth last year in Germany makes up for 2, 3, 4 bad weeks in one.
"The overall excitement and what you achieve one week outweighs the bad or the lonely times.
"As the year went on I was significantly more comfortable.
"It's just a familiarity piece, like any guy that I kind of know to a certain extent would be willing to go to dinner, would be willing to answer a question if you have something come up.
"I mean, I love to compete. I love to, to be out there. I feel comfortable on the golf course that's, that's where we all feel comfortable."
After a short time back at home in Colorado, Bryant is back into action at next week's BMW Australian PGA Championship.
With further planned starts at the Crown Australian Open and AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, he already feels at an advantage having not played in either of the Australian events last year such was the whirlwind nature of Qualifying School finishing and a new season starting.
"I'm aware of what is at stake," referencing how important the Open Swing events can be for Qualifying School graduates.
"But I also know that they're not the tell all of the season."
Regardless of how the opening weeks of the campaign play out, Bryant is heading into it with greater belief than 12 months ago and with learnings that he believes will help him along the way.
"The most exciting aspect is how much more comfortable and prepared I'm going to be.
"Anytime you’re going into a new job and whatever industry you’re going into, a lot is just unknown. That's exactly how it was.
"And so, doing something for the second time is just going to be… maybe it is harder, maybe I don’t play as well.
"Maybe other adversity happens, but I think I’m better prepared for how last season went."
