Spanish win is Raymond Russell's
-
first pro title in 14 years

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By NICK RODGER
Raymond Russell survived an early wobble to claim his first big title in 14 years with victory in the Alps Tour's Emporda Open in Spain.
The 37-year-old Scot, who won the European Tour's Cannes Open back in 1996, closed with a one-under 70 for an 11-under 202 and a two-shot win over Italy's Matteo Delpodio and Spanish duo Carlos Del Moral and Xavier Guzman.
Russell, who finished fourth in the 1998 Open at Royal Birkdale, was leading by three strokes heading into the closing round at Emporda. He made a perfect start to his title bid with a birdie on the first hole but he toppled off the top with a calamitous run of five dropped shots over the next three holes.
The Prestonpans pro (picture above from the Alps Tour website) rallied and picked up another five birdies, including two in a row at 17 and 18, to edge back to the front and pick up the top prize of almost £6,000.
"I told myself to take it the same as on the first two days and I managed to make a few more birdies," said Russell.
Scone's Gavin Dear sagged to a closing 75 and finished near the foot of the standings on a 216.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71)
Prizemoney in Euros
202 Raymond RUSSELL (SCO) 68 64 70 (6,633.60).
204 Matteo DELPODIO (ITA) 68 69 67, Carlos DEL MORAL (ESP) 65 71 68, Xavier GUZMAN SADABA (ESP) 68 67 69 (3,577.60 each).
205 Eduardo DE LA RIVA (ESP) 71 69 65, Moises COBO (ESP) 69 68 68, Jordi GARCIA PINTO (ESP) 68 69 68, Jaime CAMARGO (ESP) 67 69 69, Jurgen MAURER (AUT) 69 66 70 (1,505.28 each).
206 Pedro LINHART (ESP) 68 72 66 937.60, Olivier SERRES (FRA) 67 72 67, Kenny LE SAGER (FRA) 69 67 70, Juan Antonio BRAGULAT (ESP) 66 70 70, Jesus LEGARREA (ESP) 65 70 71, Matthew CRYER (ENG) 67 68 71 (937.60 each).
207 -6 Jason BARNES (ENG) 68 72 67, Jorge GARCIA FERNANDEZ (ESP) 68 70 69, Edouard DUBOIS (FRA) 68 70 69, Alvaro SALTO (ESP) 68 70 69, Sergio GUTIERREZ (ESP) 68 70 69 (782.40 each).
208 Jason PALMER (ENG) 73 68 67, Jose Luis ADARRAGA (ESP) 72 68 68, Pol BECH (ESP) 69 69 70, Damien PERRIER (FRA) 69 67 72 (691.20 each).
209 Carlos GARCIA SIMARRO (ESP) 71 70 68, Paolo TERRENI (ITA) 72 69 68 (636 each).
210 Marco CRESPI (ITA) 69 72 69 574.40, Richard KILPATRICK (NIR) 69 72 69, Cesar MONASTERIO (ARG) 69 70 71, Matjaz GOJCIC (SLO) 69 70 71, Matthieu BEY (FRA) 65 73 72, Juan PARRON (ESP) 64 73 73 (574.40 each).
211 Farren KEENAN (ENG) 69 72 70, Jose Manuel CARRILES (ESP) 68 72 71 (523.20 each).
212 Marc PEREZ GELMA (ESP) 71 70 71, Jann SCHMID (SWI) 69 71 72, Borja GUERRERO GARCIA (ESP) 69 70 73, Ivan ARQUILLO (AM) (ESP) 66 70 76 (amateur), Daniel ALONSO (ESP) 69 66 77 (490.80 each, except amateur).»
213 Georg SCHULTES (AUT) 71 70 72, Ignacio FELIU (ESP) 67 72 74, Carlos BALMASEDA (ESP) 67 71 75 (456 each).
215 Gabriel CANIZARES (ESP) 72 69 74, Pierre RELECOM (BEL) 69 71 75 (432 each).
216 Gavin DEAR (SCO) 69 72 75 (417.60) (45th)
217 Borja ETCHART (ESP) 68 72 77 (412.80).
MISSED THE CUT
142 Sebastian GARCIA GROUT (ESP) 73 69, Fernando ROCA (ESP) 67 75, Felix FIHN (SWE) 73 69, David ANTONELLI (FRA) 69 73, Jacques GUILLET (FRA) 70 72, Ismael DEL CASTILLO (ESP) 73 69, Matthew BALDWIN (ENG) 70 72, Sam ROBINSON (ENG) 71 71,
Julien FORET (FRA) 72 70, Ivan IRAZUSTA (ESP) 71 71.
143 Sergio GONZALEZ GARCIA (ESP) 72 71,Ignacio SANCHEZ PALENCIA (ESP) 73 70, Alfonso GUTIERREZ (ESP) 75 68, Jose Manuel OCEJO (ESP) 73 70, Romain SCHNEIDER (FRA) 70 73, Pedro ERICE (ESP) 70 73, Diego SUAZO GONZALEZ (ESP) 70 73, Ivó GINER (ESP) 72 71, Francisco CEA (ESP) 70 73, Iñigo URQUIZU (ESP) 70 73.
144 Marco GUERISOLI (ITA) 70 74, Daniel QUIROS (ESP) 72 72, Mikel GALDOS URIBESALGO (ESP) 74 70, Agus DOMINGO HOSPITAL (ESP) 69 75, Ion GARCIA (ESP) 73 71, Santiago TARRIO (ESP) 72 72, Alfredo GARCIA-HEREDIA (ESP) 71 73, Ricki NEIL-JONES (ENG) 71 73, Jose LORCA (ESP) 68 76, Ivan MUNOZ (ESP) 74 70.
145 Matthias MONTGAILLARD (FRA) 70 75, Pablo MENJIBAR (ESP) 72 73, Uli WEINHANDL (AUT) 71 74, Raul QUIROS (ESP) 70 75, Simone BRIZZOLARI (ITA) 72 73, Nicolas SULZER (SWI) 74 71, Francisco VALLS (ESP) 74 71, Robert SVENSSON (SWE) 73 72, Eduardo FERNANDEZ (ESP) 71 74, Nicholas MURTAGH (ENG) 72 73, Bruno-Teva LECUONA (FRA) 73 72, Mark HOOPER (ENG) 69 76.
146 Thomas FOURNIER (FRA) 74 72, Claudio BLAESI (SWI) 69 77, Jose Miguel ROSILLO (ESP) 75 71, Michael MOSER (AUT) 71 75, Giacomo TONELLI (ITA) 74 72, Max BRACKLEY (ENG) 73 73, Vicente BLAZQUEZ (ESP) 70 76, Jordi GARCIA DEL MORAL (ESP) 72 74,
Alan BIHAN (FRA) 75 71, Daniel COUGHLAN (ENG) 71 75.
147 Roberto LANTSOGHT (ESP) 75 72, Ignacio BERMUDO (ESP) 72 75, Mariano SAIZ (ESP) 70 77, Francisco LAGARTO (ESP) 72 75, Neil CHAUDHURI (ENG) 72 75.
148 Bernie SOLANES (ESP) 71 77, Maximilian BOSSE (ESP) 74 74,
149 Ivan LARA (ESP) 70 79, Daniel PALENZUELA (ESP) 73 76, Rafael GALLARDO MORENO (ESP) 74 75.
150 Kim JOON (ITA) 73 77, Alex MUNRO (AUS) 76 74, Juan Manuel FUENTES (ESP) 74 76,
Gervasio CUQUEJO (ESP) 70 80, Carlos PEREZ BARBERAN (ESP) 73 77,
Txomin HOSPITAL (ESP) 72 78, Jose Manuel MANCEBO (ESP) 78 72.
151 Andrea SIGNOR (ITA) 75 76,Jerome THEUNIS (BEL) 76 75, Carlos SANCHEZ (ESP) 78 73, Miguel PUJALTE SASTRE (ESP) 80 71, Marcos JUAN TOMAS (ESP) 77 74, Roger ALBINYANA (ESP) 73 78, Xavier PONCELET (FRA) 72 79.
152 Santiago SEIJO GARCIA (ESP) 75 77.
153 Giorgio DEL BOCA (ITA) 74 79.
154 Carlos GALLARDO MORENO (ESP) 76 78, Panagiotis KARANTZIAS (GRE) 77 77.
155 Mathieu BOZIO (FRA) 76 79, Carlos AGUILAR (ESP) 79 76 »»
156 Antonio ARJONA (ESP) 76 80, Damaso CARRERA (ESP) 76 80 »»
160 Ivan OLLER (ESP) 77 83 »»
166 Robert SANCHEZ (AM) (ESP) (amateur) 84 82.
167 Miguel FAJARDO (ESP) 82 85.
168 Alvaro BELTRAN TOLOSA (ESP) (amateur) 80 88.
Retired: Steven HUME (SCO) 73, Tony RAILLARD (FRA) 78, Alberto DONIGA (ESP) 71.

ALPS TOUR ORDER OF MERIT
following the Peugeot Tour Empordà Golf
1 Matteo DELPODIO 13,654
2 Lawrence DODD 9,464
3 Gavin DEAR 6,946
4 Xavier GUZMAN SADABA 5,128
5 Jordi GARCIA DEL MORAL 4,713
6 Damien PERRIER 4,535
7 Carlos BALMASEDA 3,691
8 Richard KILPATRICK 3,252
9 Nicolas JOAKIMIDES 2,678
10 Matthew CRYER 2,321

*Official tour scoring and statistics provided by the ALPS TOUR