JOY FOR MACAULAY AND ORR BUT HEARTBREAK FOR GEORGE MURRAY AT Q SCHOOL

By COLIN FARQUHARSON Colin@scottishgolfview.com Gary Orr and Callum Macaulay (pictured) were the only two of the nine Scots in the starting field of 156 who succeeded in winning playing rights on the European Tour by finishing among the leading players with totals of five-under-par 423 and better at the Final Qualifying School at PGA Catalunya in north-east Spain today. There was a heart-break finish for George Murray who missed a putt of about 2ft at the very last hole of the 108-hole marathon - and he missed out by one stroke. Scottish amateur champion at Carnoustie in 2008, Macaulay from Tulliallan finished in contrasting style. He holed "fantastic putts" of 15ft at the 17th (for a par 4) and 25ft at the 18th (for a birdie 3) to finish with a one-under-par 71 and a six under par total of 422, one shot inside the limit qualifying mark in joint 20th place. Macaulay had a roller-coaster inward half with a birdie at the 12th, a bogey at the 13th, a birdie at the 15th and a bogey at the short 16th before his dramatic finish. Callum, who had his wife Clare-Marie caddieing for him - "She was awesome," he Twittered - is wasting no time in returning to the European Tour for which he lost his player's card at the end of the 2009 season. He will play in the first event of the European Tour's 2013 international schedule which actually starts next week with the Nelson Mandela Championship at Durban, South Africa.  Macaulay said:  "There were times during the last two years when I thought I would never be on the tour again and my game was going backwards. "I got off to a great start to the season and everything just went pear-shaped in the middle of the season. Today has just turned a mediocre year into a great one." Helensburgh-born Gary Orr became the oldest player to win a card at the Qualifying School Final Stage, at 45 years and 202 days, 20 years after he first achieved the feat. Orr bogeyed the last for a 73 and a five-under-par total of 423, the limit mark for the 28 qualifiers for the Big League. Anstruther's George Murray had been within the likely qualifying zone since he started the six-round eliminator with a 66 but he dropped out of it on the very day it matter most. Not surprisingly he was distraught at letting next year's big-earning opportunity slip through his fingers. Birdies at the 14th and 15th had him on course for a European Tour card but then he shed three shots to par over the last three holes. A bogey at the short 16th, followed by a par at the 17th had him on the last tee needing a par or a bogey to qualify - but Murray took a double bogey 6 for a 74 and a four-under-total of 424 - one shot too many.  Alastair Forsyth and Andrew McArthur finished well out of the hunt, both on the one-over 429 mark. Forsyth signed off with a 75, and McArthur a 71. Had the latter scored a 74 instead of an 80 on the opening day he would earned a European Tour card. Yorkshireman John Parry led the 28 card-earners and his own return to The European Tour in swashbuckling style by winning the Qualifying School Final Stage by four shots courtesy of a two under par 70 in the sixth and final round. The former Walker Cup player from Harrogate had his 26th birthday on November 17.  Carly Booth's boyfriend and sometimes caddie, Estanislao (Tano) Goya, who made the early running at the Q School Final School, kept his form going well to finish joint fourth on 417. MIKE STEWART: YOU FEEL FOR THOSE WHO HAVE MISSED OUT    Inverness-born Mike Stewart, European Tour Tournament Director, said at the conclusion of the tournament: “The new championship tees, narrower fairways and modified greens at the 3rd and 11th on the Stadium Course proved a fine test of skill and nerve.  “Starting out (in Stage 1) with a field of more than 870 contenders, it is fitting that the Final Stage should be played on a course that sets the standard for European Tour events.  "You can sense the elation and relief of the 28 who take home their player cards – but you feel for those who have missed out.”