Euan Little, Scott Henderson, Eric Ramsay and George Murray

ONLY FOUR SCOTS MAKE IT THROUGH
TO EUROPEAN TOUR FINAL Q SCHOOL

Euan Little, Scott Henderson, Eric Ramsay (pictured right) and amateur George Murray were the only Scots to qualify for next week’s European Tour Final Qualifying School over six rounds at San Roque Golf Club on the tip of the Costa del Sol.
The Stage 2 tests at four Spanish venues ended today with the usual crop of heartbreak and near-miss stories.
Let’s start our round-up at the par-70 Costa Ballena where Scott Henderson had been going so well through the first 54 holes.
Oh what a change in the fourth and final round!The Aberdonian slumped to a 76 for 279. He squeezed through in joint 12th place.
One more stroke and he would have been involved in the play-off on 280.
Euan Little from Portpatrick qualified with a bit more to spare than Henderson. Euan closed with a 69 for 276 and joint sixth place behind the winner at this venue, the left-handed Finnish amateur Antti Ahoka who finished on 15-under-par 273. Little earned £150.
Scots who did not make it at Costa Ballena were Graeme Brown from Montrose on 282, Paul McKechnie and Peter Whiteford on 283, Chris Doak and David Patrick on 284.
At Sherry Golf Jerez (par 72), former Scottish amateur champion George Murray, who has not yet turned pro, qualified with one shot to spare with a closing 70 for 284 and a share of 12th place.
Walker Cup youngster Oliver Fisher qualified in joint fourth place on 282, four shots behind the leader, Australian Andrew Tampion.
Scots who did not make it at Sherry Golf Jerez were Graham Fox and Jamie McLeary (both 287), Murray Urquhart (292) and amateur Scott Jamieson (293).
At PGA Catalunya, there were no Scots celebrating in the bar at the close. Walker Cup man Lloyd Saltman, the first round leader with a 65, finished on 285 – one shot too many to be involved in the play-off at this venue.
Former Scottish boys’ match-play champion Paul Doherty, going well for the first two rounds, eventually sagged with third and fourth rounds of 76 and 78 for 291.
At Emporda (par 70), Eric Ramsay from Carnoustie qualified in joint 10th position after a closing score of 67 for 274. That was one stroke inside the play-off bracket.
Paul Doherty’s older brother Jack suffered the same fate as Paul with a 72 for 285.
SCOREBOARD

EMPORDA
268 (-12) Magnus Carlsson (Swe) 68 68 66 66.
271 Raphael Eyraud (Fra) 67 68 67 69, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 71 69 64 67.
Other qualifiers included:
272 Sean Whiffin (Eng) 66 71 66 69, Robert Dinwiddie (Eng) 66 71 66 70 (jt 4th).
274 Eric Ramsay 69 70 68 67, Adam Gee (Eng) 64 71 71 68, Philip Walton (Ire) 68 70 71 65.
Play-off on 275: Five for four places. Successful in play-off included David Dixon (Eng) and Edward Rush (Eng).
Did not qualify:
274 Jack Doherty 66 78 68 72 (jt 54th).

PGA CATALUNYA
266 (-18) Roope Kakko (Fin) 66 69 65 66.
274 Manuel Quiros (Spa) 68 68 66 72.
277 Liam Bond (Wal) 72 66 70 69.
Other qualifiers included:
282 Ian Keenan (Eng) 71 69 70 72, Richard McEvoy (Eng) 71 69 70 72 (jt 10th).
283 David Porter (Eng) 73 69 75 66, Andrew Raitt (Eng) 68 73 75 67 (jt 15th).
Play-off on 284: Six for three places. Successful players included Graeme Clark (Eng) and (am) James Morrison (Eng).
Did not qualify:
285 (am) Lloyd Saltman 65 78 74 68 (jt 24th).
291 Paul Doherty 67 70 76 78 (jt 41st).

SHERRY GOLF JEREZ
278 (-10) Andrew Tampion (Aus) 66 71 70 71.
280 Steve Surry (Eng) 70 69 71 70.
Other qualifiers included:
282 (am) Oliver Fisher (Eng0 73 67 71 71, Matthew King (Eng) 71 72 69 70 (jt 4th).
W8e Ben Mason (Eng) 69 73 67 74 (jt 8th).
284 (am) Ross McGowan (Eng) 69 73 70 72, (am) George Murray 69 75 70 70 (jt 12th).
Play-off on 285: Four for two places.
Did not qualify:
287 Graham Fox 69 74 72 72, Jamie McLeary 71 72 71 73 (jt 24th).
282 Murray Urquhart 74 75 69 74 (jt 51st).
293 (am) Scott Jamieson 75 73 69 76 (jt 60th).

COSTA BALLENA
273 (-15) (am) Antti Ahokas (Fin) 71 66 68 68.
274 Matthew Richardson (Eng) 70 70 67 70, Paolo Terrini (Ita) 70 64 71 69.
Other qualifiers included:
275 Sean Doherty (Eng) 70 68 69 68 (jt 4th).
276 Euan Little 66 69 72 69 (jt 6th).
279 Scott Henderson 68 69 66 76 (jt 12th).
Play-off on 280: Eight for four places. Successful players included Notah Begay (US) and Daniel Denison (Eng).
Did not qualify:
282 Graeme Brown 69 69 70 74 (jt 28th).
283 Paul McKechnie 72 68 72 71, Peter Whiteford 67 73 70 73 (jt 37th).
284 Chris Doak 74 71 67 72, David Patrick 71 71 70 72 (jt 41st).
294 Alasdair Hay 73 74 71 76.
295 (am) Mark Kerr 71 73 74 77.