Eric Ramsay odd man out of four at San Roque
THREE SCOTS GRADUATE FROM
FINAL QUALIFYING SCHOOL:
McLEAN, DRYSDALE & LEE
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Three of the four Scots who made it through to the sixth and final round - Canada-based, Clydebank-born Alan McLean, Stirling's Craig Lee and David Drysdale from Dunbar - were among the exact number of 30 graduates to the 2008 European Tour from the Final Qualifying School at San Roque on the southernmost tip of the Costa del Sol on a very windy final day.
The odd man out was Carnoustie's Eric Ramsay who finished five shots over the limit mark of three-under-par 429.
McLean started the last round in joint 17th position and finished it as the top Scot in joint sixth place. He held his game together in the testing wind with a 70 over the New Course for a creditable final total of seven-under-par 425. He birdied the second, fourth, seventh, 12th and 16th and dropped shots at the first, 11th and 18th in halves of 34 (two under) and 36 (level).
Drysdale and Lee finished on four-under 428, Drysdale with a 73 and Lee with a 74.
Drysdale had birdies at two long holes, the second and the seventh in an outward half of 35. He had bogeyed the third and he added two more after the turn, at the 14th and 15th for 38 home.
Lee, whose girlfriend Lynn Kenny plays on the Ladies European Tour, had his second eagle 3 of the tournament. This one came at the second in what was a roller-coaster ride of a final round in which the former Scottish boys stroke-play champion had only six pars.
Craig had birdies at the ninth, 10th, 12th and 16th but he also had a bogey 5 at the short 13th and single shots dropped at the first, fourth, seventh, eighth, 15th and 18th.
Eric Ramsay will go back to the Challenge Tour from whence he came. A final round of 78 scuppered his chances of making it four Scots graduates for the European Tour. The Carnoustie man had a definite chance at the start of the day but a double bogey 6 at the first hole was a body bloe. He got one shot back with a birdie at the sixth but then let it slide again with bogeys at the eighth, ninth and 13th. The final sickener was a double-bogey 5 at the short 13th.
That left Eric needing to birdie each of his last five holes to make the "magic" qualifying mark of 429. In the event Ramsay parred every one of them for halves of 39. A disappointing end to what had otherwise been a good season for the former Australian open amateur champion.
AUSTRIAN WIEGELE LEADS 30 QUALIFIERS
FOR 2008 EUROPEAN TOUR
FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Austrian Martin Wiegele led 30 qualifiers onto the 2008 European Tour International Schedule by winning the Qualifying School – Final Stage on a day of fuelled by tension and drama at San Roque Club, Sotogrande today.
The nature of the sixth round at the Final Stage once more ensured phenomenal finishes, lucky escapes and shattered dreams as the 71 remaining players of the Qualifying School’s 879 entrants did battle for the 30 available European Tour cards.
Sweden’s Patrik Sjöland conjured a quite stunning four under par 68 amidst disaster-inducing gusts of wind to make the magic qualifying mark of three under par 429.
Standing on the par-5 seventh tee of San Roque Club’s New Course – his 106th hole of the 108 hole Final Stage – Sjöland was two under par, one stroke outside the top 30. The former Irish Open champion smashed a drive into the wind, took a four iron for his second shot and then holed his third, a seven-iron from 137yards that went in for an eagle 3.
He dropped a stroke at the eighth, but a courageous par on his 108th hole ensured the Swede would retain his playing privileges for the European Tour.
Sjöland said: “I played really well today and probably the best I've played in a long, long time. I was surprised that it went in on the seventh but it gave me a shot to play with coming home. I have won twice on Tour and to do this today is a big relief.”
As Sjöland took the plaudits for his brilliant finish, England’s Stuart Davis and South African Doug McGuigan were left inconsolable.
McGuigan bogeyed his last two holes to miss out by a stroke, while Davis’s day collapsed as he finished bogey-bogey-triple bogey to fall from five under to level par in the space of three holes.
South Africa’s Thomas Aiken, who began the final round in the last match hoping to overhaul Wiegele at the top of the leaderboard, dropped eight shots in the deteriorating conditions to post an eight over par 80 and hang on to his card with nothing to spare.
Joining Aiken and Sjöland on the qualifying mark were a further six players, including former European Tour winners Phillip Golding and Marcel Siem. The relief for both men was palpable as Golding left the recording area breathing an almighty sigh, while Siem was simply overjoyed, shedding a tear after coming through the mentally-draining 108 marathon that is the Final Stage.
Wiegele’s final day 76 gave the Austrian a six round aggregate of 11 under 421 and a two stroke victory over Spain’s Pedro Linhart and England’s Lee Slattery, whose success will taste sweeter than most after he missed out on retaining his tour card via the 2007 Order of Merit by just 77 Euros.
“It is such a relief,” said Slattery. “I didn’t look at missing the card by €77, it was one place on the Order of Merit, that’s all that mattered. I feel I belong on The European Tour and it is good to bounce straight back.”
But the day belonged to Wiegele, who collected the £15,000 first prize from European Tour Qualifying School Director, Mike Stewart (brother of Gillian).
“It is a beautiful feeling,” said the Austrian. “I won for the first time on the Challenge Tour in Norway this year but it feels even better to win the Tour School and regain my card. I played on The European Tour a couple of years ago and lost my card but this feels unbelievable.
“It is a great day for Austrian golf with Florian Praegant finishing in the top five as well. We will have three players on The European Tour next year, which has never happened before.”
FINAL TOTALS OF THE 30 GRADUATES TO EURO TOUR
Par 432 (6 x 72)
1 - 421 M Wiegle (Austria) 71 69 69 72 74 76.
2 - 423 P Linhart (Spain) 71 72 71 69 70 70.
2 - 423 L Slattery (England) 69 76 72 64 70 72.
4 - 424 L Claviere (Spain) 69 71 68 73 71 72.
4 - 424 F Praegnant (Austria) 73 69 67 72 71 72.
6 - 425 A McLean (Scotland) 71 69 69 74 72 70.
6 - 425 S Bebb (Wales) 71 71 69 69 74 71.
6 - 425 F Delamontagne (France) 73 74 72 69 69 68.
6 - 425 L S James (England) 72 69 74 73 68 69.
6 - 425 P Larrazabal (Spain) 71 66 71 70 71 76.
11-427 J Backstrom (Sweden) 69 74 68 70 74 72.
11-427 R Bland (England) 73 69 71 73 71 70.
11-427 B Hafthorsson (Iceland) 71 70 73 70 71 72.
11-427 S Struver (Germany) 71 71 68 72 72 73.
11-427 P Terrini (Italy) 72 71 71 67 71 75.
16-428 D Drysdale (Scotland) 70 75 73 70 67 73.
16-428 C Lee (Scotland) 72 68 75 70 69 74.
16-428 J Abbate (Argentina) 74 71 73 70 68 72.
16-428 D Dixon (England) 70 72 74 68 71 73.
16-428 M Millar (Australia) 71 73 69 71 71 73.
16-428 B Teilleria (France) 76 71 71 69 71 70.
22-429 T Aiken (South Africa) 70 68 72 68 71 80.
22-429 P Golding (England) 75 69 69 69 74 73.
22-429 J Kamte (South Africa) 71 70 73 73 70 72.
22-429 J-A Larsen (Norway) 72 70 73 70 69 76.
22-429 G Paddison (New Zealand) 74 72 7073 67 73.
22-429 M Siem (Germany) 71 72 74 70 71 71.
22-429 P Sjoland (Sweden) 75 72 73 69 72 68.
22-429 U Van den Berg (South Africa) 70 71 72 71 70 75.
22-429 P Waring (England) 74 70 72 70 68 75.
THE MEN WHO FAILED
31-430 S Barr (Australia) 71 69 76 71 70 73.
31-430 M Cort (England) 70 74 73 69 70 74.
31-430 T Cruz (Portugal) 68 70 74 69 72 77.
31-430 D McGuigan (South Africa) 72 69 73 68 75 73.
35-431 A Bruschi (Italy) 71 72 71 72 71 74.
35-431 A Da Silva (Brazil) 71 72 74 69 71 74.
35-431 T Pilkadaris (Australia) 72 75 70 66 73 75.
35-431 M Rodriguez (Argentina) 74 71 76 68 69 73
35-431 P Senior (Australia) 73 67 73 75 69 74.
35-431 A Tadini (Italy) 70 73 72 69 77 70.
41-432 S Davis (England) 70 75 73 70 67 77.
41-432 R Guillard (France) 72 70 71 72 72 75.
41-432 C Moriarty (Ireland) 70 73 71 75 72 71.
44-433 B Mason (England) 70 74 74 66 69 80.
44-433 J Morrison (England) 73 71 71 71 70 77.
46-434 E Ramsay (Scotland) 70 73 74 71 68 78.
46-434 C Hanell (Sweden) 70 73 75 70 72 74.
46-434 M Korhonen (Finland) 71 72 73 70 73 75.
46-434 J E Morgan (England) 71 72 73 70 73 75.
46-434 M Quiros (Spain) 71 74 69 75 71 74.
51-435 S Browne (Ireland) 75 74 70 70 71 75.
51-435 L Dodd (England) 73 71 72 71 71 77.
51-435 A Hansen (Denmark) 72 73 731 71 75.
54-436 G Canizarez (Spain) 73 74 70 69 73 77.
54-436 O David (France) 70 73 74 72 71 76.
54-436 R Rock (England) 70 72 75 72 72 75.
54-436 M Soffietti (Italy) 73 71 72 67 75 78.
FINAL QUALIFYING SCHOOL:
McLEAN, DRYSDALE & LEE
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Three of the four Scots who made it through to the sixth and final round - Canada-based, Clydebank-born Alan McLean, Stirling's Craig Lee and David Drysdale from Dunbar - were among the exact number of 30 graduates to the 2008 European Tour from the Final Qualifying School at San Roque on the southernmost tip of the Costa del Sol on a very windy final day.
The odd man out was Carnoustie's Eric Ramsay who finished five shots over the limit mark of three-under-par 429.
McLean started the last round in joint 17th position and finished it as the top Scot in joint sixth place. He held his game together in the testing wind with a 70 over the New Course for a creditable final total of seven-under-par 425. He birdied the second, fourth, seventh, 12th and 16th and dropped shots at the first, 11th and 18th in halves of 34 (two under) and 36 (level).
Drysdale and Lee finished on four-under 428, Drysdale with a 73 and Lee with a 74.
Drysdale had birdies at two long holes, the second and the seventh in an outward half of 35. He had bogeyed the third and he added two more after the turn, at the 14th and 15th for 38 home.
Lee, whose girlfriend Lynn Kenny plays on the Ladies European Tour, had his second eagle 3 of the tournament. This one came at the second in what was a roller-coaster ride of a final round in which the former Scottish boys stroke-play champion had only six pars.
Craig had birdies at the ninth, 10th, 12th and 16th but he also had a bogey 5 at the short 13th and single shots dropped at the first, fourth, seventh, eighth, 15th and 18th.
Eric Ramsay will go back to the Challenge Tour from whence he came. A final round of 78 scuppered his chances of making it four Scots graduates for the European Tour. The Carnoustie man had a definite chance at the start of the day but a double bogey 6 at the first hole was a body bloe. He got one shot back with a birdie at the sixth but then let it slide again with bogeys at the eighth, ninth and 13th. The final sickener was a double-bogey 5 at the short 13th.
That left Eric needing to birdie each of his last five holes to make the "magic" qualifying mark of 429. In the event Ramsay parred every one of them for halves of 39. A disappointing end to what had otherwise been a good season for the former Australian open amateur champion.
AUSTRIAN WIEGELE LEADS 30 QUALIFIERS
FOR 2008 EUROPEAN TOUR
FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Austrian Martin Wiegele led 30 qualifiers onto the 2008 European Tour International Schedule by winning the Qualifying School – Final Stage on a day of fuelled by tension and drama at San Roque Club, Sotogrande today.
The nature of the sixth round at the Final Stage once more ensured phenomenal finishes, lucky escapes and shattered dreams as the 71 remaining players of the Qualifying School’s 879 entrants did battle for the 30 available European Tour cards.
Sweden’s Patrik Sjöland conjured a quite stunning four under par 68 amidst disaster-inducing gusts of wind to make the magic qualifying mark of three under par 429.
Standing on the par-5 seventh tee of San Roque Club’s New Course – his 106th hole of the 108 hole Final Stage – Sjöland was two under par, one stroke outside the top 30. The former Irish Open champion smashed a drive into the wind, took a four iron for his second shot and then holed his third, a seven-iron from 137yards that went in for an eagle 3.
He dropped a stroke at the eighth, but a courageous par on his 108th hole ensured the Swede would retain his playing privileges for the European Tour.
Sjöland said: “I played really well today and probably the best I've played in a long, long time. I was surprised that it went in on the seventh but it gave me a shot to play with coming home. I have won twice on Tour and to do this today is a big relief.”
As Sjöland took the plaudits for his brilliant finish, England’s Stuart Davis and South African Doug McGuigan were left inconsolable.
McGuigan bogeyed his last two holes to miss out by a stroke, while Davis’s day collapsed as he finished bogey-bogey-triple bogey to fall from five under to level par in the space of three holes.
South Africa’s Thomas Aiken, who began the final round in the last match hoping to overhaul Wiegele at the top of the leaderboard, dropped eight shots in the deteriorating conditions to post an eight over par 80 and hang on to his card with nothing to spare.
Joining Aiken and Sjöland on the qualifying mark were a further six players, including former European Tour winners Phillip Golding and Marcel Siem. The relief for both men was palpable as Golding left the recording area breathing an almighty sigh, while Siem was simply overjoyed, shedding a tear after coming through the mentally-draining 108 marathon that is the Final Stage.
Wiegele’s final day 76 gave the Austrian a six round aggregate of 11 under 421 and a two stroke victory over Spain’s Pedro Linhart and England’s Lee Slattery, whose success will taste sweeter than most after he missed out on retaining his tour card via the 2007 Order of Merit by just 77 Euros.
“It is such a relief,” said Slattery. “I didn’t look at missing the card by €77, it was one place on the Order of Merit, that’s all that mattered. I feel I belong on The European Tour and it is good to bounce straight back.”
But the day belonged to Wiegele, who collected the £15,000 first prize from European Tour Qualifying School Director, Mike Stewart (brother of Gillian).
“It is a beautiful feeling,” said the Austrian. “I won for the first time on the Challenge Tour in Norway this year but it feels even better to win the Tour School and regain my card. I played on The European Tour a couple of years ago and lost my card but this feels unbelievable.
“It is a great day for Austrian golf with Florian Praegant finishing in the top five as well. We will have three players on The European Tour next year, which has never happened before.”
FINAL TOTALS OF THE 30 GRADUATES TO EURO TOUR
Par 432 (6 x 72)
1 - 421 M Wiegle (Austria) 71 69 69 72 74 76.
2 - 423 P Linhart (Spain) 71 72 71 69 70 70.
2 - 423 L Slattery (England) 69 76 72 64 70 72.
4 - 424 L Claviere (Spain) 69 71 68 73 71 72.
4 - 424 F Praegnant (Austria) 73 69 67 72 71 72.
6 - 425 A McLean (Scotland) 71 69 69 74 72 70.
6 - 425 S Bebb (Wales) 71 71 69 69 74 71.
6 - 425 F Delamontagne (France) 73 74 72 69 69 68.
6 - 425 L S James (England) 72 69 74 73 68 69.
6 - 425 P Larrazabal (Spain) 71 66 71 70 71 76.
11-427 J Backstrom (Sweden) 69 74 68 70 74 72.
11-427 R Bland (England) 73 69 71 73 71 70.
11-427 B Hafthorsson (Iceland) 71 70 73 70 71 72.
11-427 S Struver (Germany) 71 71 68 72 72 73.
11-427 P Terrini (Italy) 72 71 71 67 71 75.
16-428 D Drysdale (Scotland) 70 75 73 70 67 73.
16-428 C Lee (Scotland) 72 68 75 70 69 74.
16-428 J Abbate (Argentina) 74 71 73 70 68 72.
16-428 D Dixon (England) 70 72 74 68 71 73.
16-428 M Millar (Australia) 71 73 69 71 71 73.
16-428 B Teilleria (France) 76 71 71 69 71 70.
22-429 T Aiken (South Africa) 70 68 72 68 71 80.
22-429 P Golding (England) 75 69 69 69 74 73.
22-429 J Kamte (South Africa) 71 70 73 73 70 72.
22-429 J-A Larsen (Norway) 72 70 73 70 69 76.
22-429 G Paddison (New Zealand) 74 72 7073 67 73.
22-429 M Siem (Germany) 71 72 74 70 71 71.
22-429 P Sjoland (Sweden) 75 72 73 69 72 68.
22-429 U Van den Berg (South Africa) 70 71 72 71 70 75.
22-429 P Waring (England) 74 70 72 70 68 75.
THE MEN WHO FAILED
31-430 S Barr (Australia) 71 69 76 71 70 73.
31-430 M Cort (England) 70 74 73 69 70 74.
31-430 T Cruz (Portugal) 68 70 74 69 72 77.
31-430 D McGuigan (South Africa) 72 69 73 68 75 73.
35-431 A Bruschi (Italy) 71 72 71 72 71 74.
35-431 A Da Silva (Brazil) 71 72 74 69 71 74.
35-431 T Pilkadaris (Australia) 72 75 70 66 73 75.
35-431 M Rodriguez (Argentina) 74 71 76 68 69 73
35-431 P Senior (Australia) 73 67 73 75 69 74.
35-431 A Tadini (Italy) 70 73 72 69 77 70.
41-432 S Davis (England) 70 75 73 70 67 77.
41-432 R Guillard (France) 72 70 71 72 72 75.
41-432 C Moriarty (Ireland) 70 73 71 75 72 71.
44-433 B Mason (England) 70 74 74 66 69 80.
44-433 J Morrison (England) 73 71 71 71 70 77.
46-434 E Ramsay (Scotland) 70 73 74 71 68 78.
46-434 C Hanell (Sweden) 70 73 75 70 72 74.
46-434 M Korhonen (Finland) 71 72 73 70 73 75.
46-434 J E Morgan (England) 71 72 73 70 73 75.
46-434 M Quiros (Spain) 71 74 69 75 71 74.
51-435 S Browne (Ireland) 75 74 70 70 71 75.
51-435 L Dodd (England) 73 71 72 71 71 77.
51-435 A Hansen (Denmark) 72 73 731 71 75.
54-436 G Canizarez (Spain) 73 74 70 69 73 77.
54-436 O David (France) 70 73 74 72 71 76.
54-436 R Rock (England) 70 72 75 72 72 75.
54-436 M Soffietti (Italy) 73 71 72 67 75 78.
Labels: Pro Men
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Tuesday, November 20, 2007
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home