ALLIANZ TOUR

Baldwin joint third, Russell shares fifth in France

There were two British players among the leading finishers in this week's French Allianz Tour event - the Trophy Jean Garaialde - at Hossegor.
Englishman Matthew Baldwin finished joint third on 13-under-par 271 - three shots behind the winner, Spain's Ivo Giner - and Scot Raymond Russell tied for fifth place on 274.
A second Scot in the field, Gavin Dear from Scone, Perthshire, finished joint 24th on 280.
Baldwin had rounds of 72, 65, 64 and 70 to earn 2,925 Euros, compared with Giner's payslip for 7,250 Euros.
Like all these satellite tours, the standard is high. You have to score several under par or lose ground.
Russell from Prestonpans had a great first round (65) and a pretty good final round (68) but in between he had scores of 70 and 71, which made the difference between contesting the lead in the second half tournament and coming joint fifth, six shots off the pace.
Nevertheless it was Russell's best performance anywhere for a long time and though the cheque for 2,150 Euros is by no means his biggest, the boost to his confidence should be tremendous.
Dear, who is also a member of the Alps Tour, had four very steady rounds of 69, 71, 70 and 70 for four-under-par 280 for which he earned 676 Euros, which probably did not clear his expenses.
Again, on these Satellite tours you have to average top-three finishes to make money.