We had to wait until November, but we might have the story of the year out of European Tour Q School. Englishman Jonathan Thomson shot 67-72-68-67-71-69 to earn his European Tour card for 2017-18.
On the surface, that's not remarkable. What is remarkable, though, is that Thomson is a cancer survivor who has battled his way onto one of the best tours in the world from Europe's third-tier tour (the EuroPro Tour) last year. Thomson was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at the age of 7.
"It's not really hit home yet. It's so emotional, it's been such a long journey for us to get to this point and it's hard to let it all sink in," said 21-year-old Thomson, who – between the ages of seven and 12 – endured extensive chemotherapy treatment to combat acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, which went into remission.
"My dad's (Nigel) been here with me through it all. It's been some tough times, but here we are and it's great. We had a hug and a tear on 18 and I'm looking forward to getting a beer now."
Thomson celebrated with his father shortly after making birdie at the final two holes to join 32 other players in getting his card. He made it by two strokes. Thomson played his way, incredibly, through all three stages at Q School and gets to enjoy the big boy tour for the next 12 months at least.
What a moment, and what a story going into the new European Tour season.
Cue waterworks! 😭@jigger_thomson hugs his proud father after securing his @EuropeanTour card at #ETQSchool pic.twitter.com/IcBinE29tI
— European Tour Q-School (@ETQSchool) November 16, 2017
Job done 👍🍺#ETQSchool pic.twitter.com/PB9FfyNS4E
— European Tour Q-School (@ETQSchool) November 16, 2017
Amazing few weeks - I now have a @EuropeanTour card! So good to celebrate all this with my friends and family! #friends #family #hardwork 👍🍺 pic.twitter.com/NwaF5RRjDj
— Jig (@jigger_thomson) November 16, 2017