ALL FOUR SCOTS CAN WIN EURO TOUR CARDS- IF
THEY CAN COPE WITH A
BAD WEATHER FORECAST
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Only one round to go in the six-round test of nerve and stamina that is the European Tour Final Qualifying School.
The good news from San Roque on the southernmost tip of Spain's Costa del Sol is that if they can hold their overnight positions in the top 30, then all four Scots - Craig Lee, pictured right, from Stirling, Canadian-based Alan McLean, Dunbar's David Drysdale and Eric Ramsay from Carnoustie - will gain playing rights for Europe's top pro circuit.
The bad news is that some awful weather - high winds and very heavy rain - is forecast for the area so there is the danger that all the good work the Scots have done so far could be blown out the window, so to speak, if they are out in the worst of the conditions.
PGAs of Europe international champion Craig Lee from Stirling - he won that title in Spain just about 12 months ago - is the leading Scot in joint 11th place on six-under-par 354. He shot a three-under-par 69 over the 7,103yd Old Course in the fifth round today.
Highlight of Craig's card was an eagle 3 at the 528yd 10th hole. He also had birdies at the fifth and ninth as well as just one bogey at the 17th in halves of 34 (two under) and 35 (one under).
Clydebank-born Alan McLean and David Drysdale are bracketed together in joint 17th place on five-under 355. Alan has lost a little of the sparkle he had about his game over the first three rounds but after a fourth-day 74, McLean matched the par of 72 with halves of 35 and 37. He had birdies at the long ninth and 18th and bogeys at the 11th and 13th in a tidy card.
If McLean was tidy, then Drysdale was terrific with a five-under-par 67, easily his best round of the five so far. Starting at the 10th, he had birdies at the 10th and 16th, dropped a shot at the 17th but then roared home in over-drive with birdies at the second, fifth, sixth and ninth for four-under 32 for holes one to nine.
Eric Ramsay also hit his best form with a four-under 68 for a share of 24th place on four-under-par 356. Eric started at the 10th and was two under par for his first nine holes, with birdies at the 13th, 15th and 18th and a bogey at the 16th. The Carnoustie man soon picked up the pace again after his turn with birdies at the first, third and fifth. Pity about a bogey at the sixth in halves of 38.
FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Martin Wiegele produced a memorable fifth round of eight under par 64 to charge into a four shot lead at the European Tour Qualifying School – Final Stage. The Austrian, a winner on the 2007 Challenge Tour, now has his 2008 European Tour destiny in his own hands.
He may have dropped two strokes over San Roque’s Old Course, but Wiegele’s remarkable birdie count ensured him a 15 under par 345 aggregate to move four strokes clear of South African Thomas Aiken and Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal.
Wiegele’s ten-birdie haul began on the first hole and ended with four in a row from the 15th and included three wonderful putts from 30 feet.
Aiken and Larrazabal posted matching 71s to share second place, with England’s Lee Slattery climbing to fourth place after his fifth round 70, but it was Wiegele who was the talk of San Roque Club after his wonderful eight under effort.
“I just have to try and play one more round as I have done the first five and I will be alright,” said Wiegele. “You have to focus on every shot on both of the courses here because they can be tricky. You can’t relax at all.
“I shot 64 on the Challenge Tour this year but I think under the circumstances and the difficulty of the golf course, that 64 is an unbelievable score. I had a little bit of luck today, but you need to have that if you are going to shoot 64 round here.
Wiegele is hoping to finish the job in style in Tuesday’s sixth and final round to lead an Austrian charge to The 2008 European Tour with Florian Praegant looking likely to win a place on Tour after his fifth round 71 took him into a share of fifth place alongside Spain’s Luis Claverie and the Italian Paolo Terreni.
With Austria’s Roland Steiner lying on two under par, there could be an unprecedented four Austrian players on The European Tour, with Wiegele, Praegant and Steiner joining Markus Brier at European golf’s top table.
The most players we have ever had on Tour is two, so if things go our way tomorrow there could be four of us next year which would be more than anyone back home would have expected,” said Wiegele.
With the top 30 players (and ties) winning a place on Tour at the conclusion of the Final Stage, San Roque is poised for its annual nail-biting conclusion.
There are currently 31 players on four under par or better, but a further 28 players within four strokes of the ten players on four under.
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Only one round to go in the six-round test of nerve and stamina that is the European Tour Final Qualifying School.
The good news from San Roque on the southernmost tip of Spain's Costa del Sol is that if they can hold their overnight positions in the top 30, then all four Scots - Craig Lee, pictured right, from Stirling, Canadian-based Alan McLean, Dunbar's David Drysdale and Eric Ramsay from Carnoustie - will gain playing rights for Europe's top pro circuit.
The bad news is that some awful weather - high winds and very heavy rain - is forecast for the area so there is the danger that all the good work the Scots have done so far could be blown out the window, so to speak, if they are out in the worst of the conditions.
PGAs of Europe international champion Craig Lee from Stirling - he won that title in Spain just about 12 months ago - is the leading Scot in joint 11th place on six-under-par 354. He shot a three-under-par 69 over the 7,103yd Old Course in the fifth round today.
Highlight of Craig's card was an eagle 3 at the 528yd 10th hole. He also had birdies at the fifth and ninth as well as just one bogey at the 17th in halves of 34 (two under) and 35 (one under).
Clydebank-born Alan McLean and David Drysdale are bracketed together in joint 17th place on five-under 355. Alan has lost a little of the sparkle he had about his game over the first three rounds but after a fourth-day 74, McLean matched the par of 72 with halves of 35 and 37. He had birdies at the long ninth and 18th and bogeys at the 11th and 13th in a tidy card.
If McLean was tidy, then Drysdale was terrific with a five-under-par 67, easily his best round of the five so far. Starting at the 10th, he had birdies at the 10th and 16th, dropped a shot at the 17th but then roared home in over-drive with birdies at the second, fifth, sixth and ninth for four-under 32 for holes one to nine.
Eric Ramsay also hit his best form with a four-under 68 for a share of 24th place on four-under-par 356. Eric started at the 10th and was two under par for his first nine holes, with birdies at the 13th, 15th and 18th and a bogey at the 16th. The Carnoustie man soon picked up the pace again after his turn with birdies at the first, third and fifth. Pity about a bogey at the sixth in halves of 38.
FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Martin Wiegele produced a memorable fifth round of eight under par 64 to charge into a four shot lead at the European Tour Qualifying School – Final Stage. The Austrian, a winner on the 2007 Challenge Tour, now has his 2008 European Tour destiny in his own hands.
He may have dropped two strokes over San Roque’s Old Course, but Wiegele’s remarkable birdie count ensured him a 15 under par 345 aggregate to move four strokes clear of South African Thomas Aiken and Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal.
Wiegele’s ten-birdie haul began on the first hole and ended with four in a row from the 15th and included three wonderful putts from 30 feet.
Aiken and Larrazabal posted matching 71s to share second place, with England’s Lee Slattery climbing to fourth place after his fifth round 70, but it was Wiegele who was the talk of San Roque Club after his wonderful eight under effort.
“I just have to try and play one more round as I have done the first five and I will be alright,” said Wiegele. “You have to focus on every shot on both of the courses here because they can be tricky. You can’t relax at all.
“I shot 64 on the Challenge Tour this year but I think under the circumstances and the difficulty of the golf course, that 64 is an unbelievable score. I had a little bit of luck today, but you need to have that if you are going to shoot 64 round here.
Wiegele is hoping to finish the job in style in Tuesday’s sixth and final round to lead an Austrian charge to The 2008 European Tour with Florian Praegant looking likely to win a place on Tour after his fifth round 71 took him into a share of fifth place alongside Spain’s Luis Claverie and the Italian Paolo Terreni.
With Austria’s Roland Steiner lying on two under par, there could be an unprecedented four Austrian players on The European Tour, with Wiegele, Praegant and Steiner joining Markus Brier at European golf’s top table.
The most players we have ever had on Tour is two, so if things go our way tomorrow there could be four of us next year which would be more than anyone back home would have expected,” said Wiegele.
With the top 30 players (and ties) winning a place on Tour at the conclusion of the Final Stage, San Roque is poised for its annual nail-biting conclusion.
There are currently 31 players on four under par or better, but a further 28 players within four strokes of the ten players on four under.
LEADING FIFTH-ROUND TOTALS
Par 360 (5 x 72)
1-345 M Wiegele 71 69 69 72 64.
2-349 T Aiken 70 68 72 68 71, P Larrazabal 71 66 71 70 71.
4-351 L Slattery 69 76 72 64 70.
5-352 L Claverie 69 71 68 73 71, F Praegant 73 69 67 72 71, P Terreni 72 71 71 67 71.
8-353 T Cruz 68 70 74 69 72, P Linhart 71 72 71 69 70, B Mason 70 74 74 66 69.
11-354 S Bebb 71 71 69 69 74, J-A Larsen 72 70 73 70 69, C Lee (Scotland) 72 69 75 70 69, S Struver 71 71 68 72 72, U Van Den Berg 70 71 72 71 70, P Waring 74 70 72 70 68.
17-355 J Backstrom 69 74 68 70 74, S Davis 70 75 71 70 67, D Dixon 70 72 74 68 71, D Drysdale (Scotland) 70 75 73 70 67, B Hafthorsson 71 70 73 70 71, A McLean (Scotland) 71 69 69 74 72, M Millar 71 73 69 71 71.
24-356 J Abbate 74 71 73 70 68, M Cort 70 74 73 69 70, P Golding 75 69 69 69 74, L S James 72 69 74 73 68, J Morrison 73 71 71 71 70, G Paddison 74 72 70 73 67, T Pilkadaris 72 75 70 66 73, E Ramsay (Scotland) 70 73 74 71 68.
------PROJECTED CUT-OFF POINT FOR LEADING 30 + TIES AFTER FINAL ROUND--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Selected scores from those outwith the leading 31:
32-357 J E Morgan 71 72 73 69 72, P Senior 73 67 73 75 69.
42-358 G Lockerbie 72 72 73 72 69, M Siem 71 72 74 70 71.
49-359 G A Clark 71 71 74 71 72.
52-360 S Browne 75 74 70 70 71, B Evans 71 69 74 72 74, C Gane 70 73 71 74 72.
60-361 G Boyd (am) 71 71 75 71 73.
Labels: Pro Men
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Monday, November 19, 2007
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