ARNOTT AND JAMES IN QUALIFYING
ZONE WITH TWO ROUNDS TO GO
Only two Scots - Bishopbriggs' Robert Arnott (pictured) and David James from Dumfries - are within the qualifying zone with two rounds to go in the European Senior Tour Q School Final Stage at the Pestana Golf Resort's Pinta course, Lagoa on Portugal's Algarve coastline.
Only the top 14 after 72 holes will gain limited access to the over-50s' tournaments in 2014 - the leading six will be able to play in any event on the European Senior Tour.
Arnott is best place in joint fifth place after steady scores of 71 and 70 for a one-under-par halfway stally of 141 - three shots behind the leader, England's Andrew Murray, who has had a pair of 69s for 138.
James, who finished top of the class at last year's Q School but lost his playing rights at the end of the 2013 season, is right on the borderline with scores of 71 and 71 for 143 and a share of 14th place.
Downfield's Kenny Hutton needs to step up a gear from joint 29th place on 146 (74-72).
The three other Scots in the field - Albert Mackenzie (74-75), Stephen McAllister (78-71) and Terry Burgoyne (75-79) - look out of it on joint 45th and joint 65th places respectively.
REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Andrew Murray serves up
a treat at Q-School
Former
European Tour winner Andrew Murray
moved into the lead at the European
Senior Tour’s Qualifying
School Final Stage, helped by the presence of
his son and current
Challenge Tour player
Tom on the bag.
The
Englishman, pictured, who won the
Panasonic European Open on The
European Tour in
1989, carded a second
successive two under par 69 at Pestana
Golf
Resort’s Pinta Course in the
Algarve region of Portugal
to move to
four under par at the midway point of
the 72-hole tournament.
Murray’s
last Qualifying School experience came at The European
Tour’s
equivalent exactly 35 years ago at the nearby Quinta do
Lago, where he
was successful in earning his card, and he is well
on
the way to repeating that success ahead of the 2014 Senior Tour
campaign.
Having
begun the day one shot off the lead, Murray bogeyed the
third hole but
picked up shots at the par four sixth and the par three
ninth to reach
the turn in one under.
Birdies at the 12th, thanks to a beautiful six iron approach to six feet, and the 14th moved him to five under and two shots clear, but he found a tough lie from the tee
at the par five 16th and struggled to a
bogey.
Murray
believes he should have scored better in the opening
two days, but
admits that his son has been a very calming
influence on the bag.
“He
is such a calm character,” said Murray, who in turn caddied
Tom to his
best finish on the Challenge Tour last year. “He doesn’t
get flustered
by anything. He knows what I'm thinking and
he’s
pretty positive about lines and clubs off the tee. He’s very
positive
about our game plan and playing to our strengths.
“I
played really nicely but I'm just disappointed with my finish and
to bogey the par five coming in. The first thing he said afterwards
was,
‘good round of golf, well played’, and that’s exactly
what I
wanted to hear really.
“I'm
hitting proper shots and executing them pretty well most of the
time so
it’s nice to have that confidence but who knows what will
happen.
“There
is no pressure on me particularly. I have a job at home with
my events
company Andrew Murray Golf so it might mean a lot
more to other people.
“That’s
not to say I'm not trying my hardest and I'm not
annoyed that I haven’t
scored better this week. I'm here to win
it and I'm playing well enough
to win it, but it’s only half time.”
Murray’s
compatriot Steve Cipa shared second place with American
Barry Conser,
as they both carded rounds of 69 to finish the day on
three under, while
another Englishman John Gould was in fourth
place on two under.
The
first round leaders both struggled to maintain their momentum
as
American Stephen Mondshine fell to a three over par round of
74 while
Jean Pierre Sallat of France fell 28 places after a
seven
over par 78.
SECOND ROUND SCORES
Par 142 (2x71)
138 A Murray (Eng) 69 69
139 S Cipa (Eng) 70 69, B Conser (USA) 70 69
140 J Gould (Eng) 71 69
141
R Arnott (Sco) 71 70, K Smith (Can) 70 71, J Smith (USA) 72 69, P Mayo
(Wal) 69 72, G Marks (Eng) 69 72, M Belsham (Eng) 70 71
142 R Roper (Eng) 72 70, M Stokes (Eng) 72 70, S Mondshine (am) (USA) 68 74
143 J McHenry (Irl) 72 71, G Ryall (Eng) 73 70, R Sabarros (Fra) 72 71, D James (Sco) 71 72, D Morito (Esp) 74 69
144 G Banister (Aus) 71 73, M Bianco (Ita) 71 73, G Bell (Eng) 71 73, G Joyner (Aus) 69 75, J Ryström (Swe) 72 72
145 W Grant (Eng) 74 71, E Kocs (USA) 75 70, J Harrison (Eng) 76 69, G Rusnak (USA) 76 69, P Burke (USA) 73 72
146 K Hutton (Sco) 74 72, T Lawrence (Eng) 74 72, J Murphy (Eng) 73 73, J Sallat (Fra) 68 78
147
J Hall (Eng) 73 74, M Wharton (Eng) 70 77, T Elliott (Aus) 73 74, J
Lovell (Eng) 74 73, G Norquist (USA) 72 75, C Milne (USA) 76 71, J
Laforce (Can) 74 73, T Dodds (Nam) 74 73, S Bennett (Eng) 75 72
148 A Fernandez (Chi) 74 74, B Lincoln (RSA) 75 73, J O'Brien (am) (Irl) 76 72
149
D Wettlaufer (Can) 75 74, K Tarling (Can) 73 76, R Masters (Eng) 75 74,
J Buendia (Esp) 76 73, A Mackenzie (Sco) 74 75, P Gresswell (Eng) 76
73, R Tlhabanyane (RSA) 71 78, S McAllister (Sco) 78 71
150 J Nougues (Arg) 77 73, A George (Eng) 76 74, S McNally (Eng) 76 74, Y Nilsson (Swe) 76 74
151 D Ray (Eng) 78 73, K Tenmark (Swe) 76 75
152 M Deboub (Alg) 79 73, P Carman (Eng) 76 76
153 C Grenier (Aut) 80 73, B James (USA) 78 75, J Lindberg (Swe) 73 80, R Thompson (USA) 76 77
154 B White (Eng) 79 75, G Ralph (Eng) 76 78, T Giles (Eng) 77 77, T Burgoyne (Sco) 75 79
156 L Warder (am) (Aus) 82 74
158 J Saxton (USA) 75 83, G Litschka (Aut) 85 73,
160 A Israelsson (Swe) 82 78
** P Martinez (Par) 70 DQ, M Buchter (Swi) 87 WD,
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Labels: Pro seniors