Borja Virto Astudillo wins in China to earn promotion to European Tour

Peter Whiteford grabs last place in Challenge Tour Grand Final

Borja Virto Astudillo showed the nerves and composure of a true champion as the Spaniard sealed a wire-to-wire victory at The Foshan Open, Guangdong in China to book his place on The European Tour for the 2016 season. The 24 year old moved from 15th place to third in the Road to Oman courtesy of his two-shot triumph at the lucrative $500,000 event, the penultimate tournament of the 2015 European Challenge Tour campaign. It was a supreme show of composure and mental fortitude from Virto Astudillo, who held a three shot leading heading into the final round, as his playing partner Björn Åkesson opened with a birdie before the Pamplona-born player dropped a shot at the third to leave the door ajar for potential challengers. Virto Astudillo bounced back with three birdies in four holes from the fifth and, despite a bogey at the ninth, he made some crucial saves to make eight straight pars thereafter. He then provided a grandstand finish with a perfectly executed birdie at the par five final hole to send the crowd into raptures. “It feels just great,” said the former Spanish amateur international, who signed for a two under par final round 70 and a 15 under total. “I can’t believe it right now, it’s overwhelming but I’m just very happy. I’m very proud with how I fought out there because it wasn’t easy. We had a short delay before we started and it’s never easy to enter the last round leading. “I’m happy with how I handled the pressure, I made a really nice par on 17 because my short game hasn’t been really good lately, but I managed to get up and down from behind the green. Then it was a great birdie to close the tournament out at 18. “When I was walking to the green I knew I had won, but I didn’t really want to think about it, I just wanted to finish the hole. But it was an amazing feeling with all the people there and my dad on the bag – he has been struggling carrying the big bag but he’s done a fantastic job. “I haven’t thought about maybe winning the Rankings but it’s an option now obviously. I’m just going to take it easy and relax, because it’s been a busy year, starting on The European Tour and then playing Challenge Tour for the second half of the season. “I’m looking forward to a week off in Dubai, relax a little and then just try to enjoy Oman. If the game feels good I’ll try and win the Rankings.” The Foshan Open has for the last three years provided one of the highlights of the Challenge Tour season, with huge crowds flocking to Foshan Golf Club to watch Virto Astudillo overcome his Swedish counterpart. The former Iowa State University student, who started this season on The European Tour having claimed a card at Qualifying School Final Stage, felt the victory was even more special given the awe-inspiring surroundings. “I have won before on Challenge Tour but it was nothing compared to this,” he said. “There are so many people, so many media. It feels great to have such a great tournament on the Challenge Tour and hopefully other tournaments will see this and try to emulate it. “It was a tough decision for me to choose to play on the Challenge Tour, missing out on big European Tour events, but now it’s completely worth it. Hopefully this win and the experience the Challenge Tour has given me will help me to be more prepared next year.” While Åkesson could not claim a maiden Challenge Tour victory after a three under final round 69 and a 13 under total, the Malmo player was still delighted with his runner-up finish as it also secured him a European Tour card for next year. “It definitely feels like a win,” said the 26 year old, who moved to fourth in the Road to Oman. “I know now that I have enough money to secure my European Tour card for next year, so it just feels amazing. “It was really fun to play today. I just stuck to my game plan and played shot by shot, as you should even though it can be tough to do, but I really did do that and I’m really happy with how I handled it today. “It’s definitely one of the best moments of my career. It’s the same feeling as when I got my card through Qualifying School, it just feels great.” There were myriad twists and turns in Foshan, near Guanzhou, with regard to the Road to Oman Rankings, with the most significant move coming from Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia, who leap-frogged Frenchman Sebastien Gros at the summit with just one event to play courtesy of a tied third place finish. America John Hahn, who finished alongside Gouveia and Joachim B Hansen on 12 under par, moved to just inside the cut-off for European Tour graduation in 15th position, from 30th. It was a huge week too for Englishman Chris Hanson, whose tied 12th finish moved him from 48th to 44th, securing a place in the season-ending NBO Golf Classic Grand Final, while Belgian Hugues Joannes’ tied eighth place finish also earned him a ticket to Muscat after moving from 54th to 44th. Scot Peter Whiteford, who entered the week just outside the bubble, did enough with a tied 24th finish to snatch the 45th and final spot in the Grand Final. FINAL TOTALS par 288 (4x72) 273 B Virto Astudillo (Esp) 64 67 72 70, 275 B Åkesson (Swe) 67 71 68 69, 276 J Hansen  (Den) 70 65 71 70, J Hahn (USA) 71 69 68 68, R Gouveia (Por) 70 66 72 68, 277 L Jun-Seok (Aus) 69 72 67 69, 278 J Winther (Den) 72 67 71 68, 279 S Walker (Eng) 71 70 70 68, C Shinkwin (Eng) 71 71 70 67, H Joannes  (Bel) 72 71 67 69, T Murray (Eng) 71 69 71 68, 280 C Hanson (Eng) 69 69 71 71, M Orrin (Eng) 67 75 67 71, M Delpodio  (Ita) 69 72 69 70, M Wiegele  (Aut) 70 71 69 70, S Tiley (Eng) 71 68 70 71, 281 H Porteous (RSA) 65 68 73 75, M Søgaard  (Den) 72 69 68 72, T Linard (Fra) 72 67 73 69, G Charoenkul (Tha) 70 70 71 70, A McArthur  (Sco) 74 67 68 72, S Gros (Fra) 72 67 69 73, C Selfridge  (Nir) 69 70 68 74, 282 W Harrold (Eng) 70 72 72 68, P Whiteford (Sco) 73 71 68 70, G Boyd  (Eng) 72 72 65 73, S Jeppesen  (Swe) 72 72 69 69, Z Hui-Lin (Chn) 72 71 71 68, 283 C Sordet  (Fra) 75 69 69 70, C Ding-Gen (Chn) 70 68 71 74, J Makitalo  (Fin) 73 70 67 73, L Gagli  (Ita) 71 69 73 70, J McLeary  (Sco) 73 68 70 72, R Evans  (Eng) 75 69 69 70, 284 H Shao-Cai (Chn) 71 73 68 72, E Cuartero Blanco  (Esp) 69 74 72 69, J Dantorp (Swe) 68 72 75 69, A Björk (Swe) 69 72 70 73, R Davies (Wal) 71 73 70 70, 285 G Sapp (USA) 73 71 72 69, S Soderberg (Swe) 70 73 69 73, J Fahrbring (Swe) 72 69 74 70, J Sjöholm (Swe) 73 71 71 70, 286 J Lima  (Por) 73 71 72 70, M Schneider (Ger) 71 74 72 69, Z Xin-Jun (Chn) 69 69 72 76, R Fox (Nzl) 72 69 73 72, E Dubois (Fra) 67 68 73 78, 288 Y Guang-Ming (Chn) 73 72 70 73, R Coles (Eng) 72 72 74 70, T Remkes (Ned) 71 68 72 77, P Widegren  (Swe) 72 71 73 72, 289 D Im (USA) 74 71 73 71, C Hai-Meng (Chn) 72 70 72 75, D Lee (SKor) 73 67 78 71, Z Guo-Wu (Chn) 70 72 73 74, D Foos (Ger) 73 71 69 76, 290 S Kim (USA) 74 71 69 76, 291 M Yiyuan (Chn) 72 71 72 76, 295 C Zi-Hao (Chn) 66 74 71 84, 296 S Yi-Cheng (Chn) 75 70 80 71,

Justin Rose wins Hong Kong Open

FROM EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Justin Rose won the UBS Hong Kong Open by one shot after a final round battle with Lucas Bjerregaard on a tense and dramatic final day in Fanling.
 Picture of Justin with trophy by courtesy of Getty Images(c).
The pair had been neck-and-neck for two days at Hong Kong Golf Club, coming into the final day with a share of the lead and they still could not be separated as they stood on the 12th tee on Sunday.
But a double bogey from Bjerregaard on the 14th proved crucial and Rose came home in 34 to get to 17 under and win a European Tour title for the fourth season in a row.
"Lucas played incredible golf," said Rose. "It was the first time I had the chance to play with him. I was thoroughly impressed, not just his game but his temperament and how he is as a person.
"I'm very happy to get the job done. I had a chance to win in Napa last week, I was tied for the lead going down the tenth hole and let that one flitter away a little bit. I wanted to hang onto this one."
Rose's eighth European Tour win takes him above Shane Lowry into fourth in the Race to Dubai and the 2007 Order of Merit winner would love to finish top of the pile again at the DP World Tour Championship.
"Dubai, especially, is a tournament I've played well at in the past," he said. "I've had a couple second-place finishes there. I'd love to break that duck, as well.
"And if you win in Dubai, you've got a great opportunity to wrap things up, so I'm looking forward to the next few weeks."
There was more drama further down the leaderboard with players battling to make it into the top 110 in the Race to Dubai and maintain their playing privileges for next season.
Matt Ford, who began the week at 117th, secured his card with a tie for seventh but Ben Evans, who was one place behind Ford at 118th and finished one shot behind him, fell agonisingly short at 111th.

The leading duo came into the day at 15 under and Rose made the first move as he drained a 20-footer on the second to move ahead on his own.
Bjerregaard flew his second shot over the green on the third but recovered to pitch to within six feet and join Rose at the top with the World Number Seven showing him the line after reaching the green in three.
Another birdie from Bjerregaard on the fourth moved him out in front on his own but the Dane saw a three-foot putt lip out on the eighth to slip back to 16 under.
A stunning approach to the ninth then set up a birdie with Rose three-putting to drop a stroke and hand his rival a two shot lead.
Rose birdied the tenth to get back within one shot and when Bjerregaard found the trees off the 11th and made a bogey, the Englishman secured his par to get back on level terms.
But a 30-footer on the 12th put Bjerregaard back in the driving seat as the pair went blow for blow for the second consecutive day.
The duo were both ragged off the tee at the 13th and had to pitch out of the rough but got up and down brilliantly for a pair of birdies to maintain the one-shot gap.
A second two-shot swing of the day was then to come on the 14th when Bjerregaard found the rough with his tee shot and then caught a branch with his second. Rose saw a birdie putt agonisingly lip out but his rival's bogey effort did the same and the lead changed hands again.
Both men made par on the 15th but Rose flew his approach on the next straight over the flag and rolled in from 15 feet to open up a two shot lead and give him the cushion to bogey the last.
"It was fun to battle with Justin these last two days," said Bjerregaard. "It's guys like him that I want to go out and compete against, and at least I gave him a little bit of a scare.
"Early on today, that double-bogey on 14 really cost me. Got a lucky break there on 13 and made birdie, which was nice.
"The last time I was out in the final group on a Sunday, I shot 89. So 20 shots better today, I'll take that."
South Korea's Soomin Lee produced the round of the day as he went round in 64 to surge up to a share of third with eight birdies and two bogeys.
Matthew Fitzpatrick had looked set to finish third all on his own at 13 under but three bogeys in his final four holes saw him drop back to 11 under as he sealed a fifth top three finish of the season to go with his British Masters supported by Sky Sports title.
American Patrick Reed fired a 67 to get to 11 under and Australian Jason Scrivener was also in that group as he fell short of securing his card for next term.
Ford was then a further shot back after a closing 69 alongside Anirban Lahiri, Lin Wen-tang and YE Yang.
Evans came home in 31 as he stormed up the leaderboard in the morning but nine under and a share of 11th was not enough for him to keep his card as he lost his 2016 place by a mere 1,008 points.
Gaganjeet Bhullar, Thongchai Jaidee, Masahiro Kawamura, CT Pan, Angelo Que and Peter Uihlein were also in the group at eight under.
Prom Meesawat, who came into the week 110th in the Race to Dubai, moved up to 108th thanks to five birdies in his last six holes with Chris Paisley and Renato Paratore, despite his disqualification on Thursday, also holding on to their cards.
Ian Poulter, who was a late entry as he tried to make certain of playing the 13 events to maintain his European Tour membership for 2016, finished at five under after a closing 69.

FINAL TOTALS
par 280 (4x70) prizemoney in euros
263 J Rose (Eng) 65 66 64 68 (289,948 euros)
264 L Bjerregaard  (Den) 66 66 63 69 (193,299)
269 S Lee (SKor) 70 69 66 64, P Reed (USA) 68 69 65 67, J Scrivener (Aus) 68 68 65 68, M Fitzpatrick  (Eng) 67 67 66 69 (82,636 each)
270 Y Yang (SKor) 68 66 67 69, L Wen-Tang (Tpe) 67 68 68 67, A Lahiri (Ind) 67 67 65 71, M Ford (Eng) 69 65 67 69 (42,382 each)
271 M Kawamura (Jpn) 68 69 69 65, B Evans  (Eng) 69 71 66 65 (30,987 each)
272 A Que (Phi) 72 67 67 66, P Uihlein  (USA) 70 70 66 66, G Bhullar (Ind) 69 66 67 70, T Jaidee (Tha) 71 67 64 70, C Pan (Tpe) 65 73 67 67 (25,643 each)
273 A Dodt (Aus) 71 68 68 66, S Rahman (Ban) 67 71 66 69, R McEvoy  (Eng) 67 68 73 65, R Gangjee (Ind) 66 70 68 69, S Brazel (Aus) 69 67 68 69, D Drysdale (Sco) 68 71 68 66 (20,645 each)
274 E Goya (Arg) 73 66 67 68, J Singh (Ind) 65 70 65 74, O Fisher  (Eng) 66 69 68 71, G McDowell  (Nir) 66 69 71 68, J Janewattananond (Tha) 69 68 70 67
275 I Poulter (Eng) 67 66 73 69, P Meesawat  (Tha) 67 69 73 66, C Pigem (Esp) 69 71 66 69
276 V Dubuisson  (Fra) 68 70 70 68, P Hanson (Swe) 69 70 67 70, M Fraser (Aus) 72 66 68 70,
277 P Marksaeng (Tha) 70 67 70 70, N Holman  (Aus) 68 66 68 75, M Perera (Sri) 71 69 69 68, R Dinwiddie  (Eng) 69 68 71 69, J Walters (RSA) 71 68 69 69, A Da Silva (Bra) 71 68 69 69, C Shih-Chang (Tpe) 71 69 66 71
278 M Nixon (Eng) 70 67 71 70, L Wei-Chih (Tpe) 64 69 71 74, C Nirat (Tha) 67 72 67 72, R Kakko  (Fin) 67 73 70 68, R Gonzalez (Arg) 69 68 74 67, C Lee (Sco) 71 67 70 70, S Yates (Sco) 69 68 68 73, J Knutzon (USA) 68 68 69 73, J Kruger (RSA) 71 68 68 71,
279 L Jensen (Den) 70 68 71 70, A Groom (Aus) 68 70 73 68, D Chia (Mas) 71 66 70 72, W Ormsby (Aus) 71 69 69 70
280 D Gaunt (Aus) 68 71 70 71, A Pavan (Ita) 64 71 74 71, M Lundberg (Swe) 71 68 71 70, M Foster (Eng) 69 69 69 73,
281 S Chawrasia (Ind) 66 70 71 74, J Randhawa (Ind) 70 70 68 73, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 71 70 71, S Jamieson  (Sco) 71 67 71 72, L Weber (Fra) 73 66 71 71,
282 N Fung (Mas) 71 67 73 71, D Lipsky (USA) 68 70 73 71, R Karlberg  (Swe) 69 69 73 71,
283 J Wang (SKor) 71 69 69 74, C Paisley  (Eng) 70 70 70 73,
284 R Wannasrichan (Tha) 69 67 74 74, G Havret  (Fra) 72 68 69 75,
286 S Supupramai (Tha) 68 69 73 76, U Park (Aus) 68 70 71 77,
287 P Maddy (Eng) 70 70 67 80,
288 P Pittayarat (Tha) 70 70 72 76,
291 P Tangkamolprasert (Tha) 71 69 75 76,
294 D Van Tonder  (RSA) 73 67 79 75,


EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

FROM THE WESTERN NEW MEXICO UNIVERSITY WEBSITE

Calum Hill from Kinross in action for Western New Mexico

Hill leads Western New Mexico climb to fourth place at Price's Give 'Em Five

Second Round Results

EL PASO, Texas—Western New Mexico University men's golf team continue to make their climb towards the top at the Price's 
On Saturday, over a par-72 course of 7,307yd, the Mustangs fired the third-lowest team round of the day with a 282 to move to fourth.
Western New Mexico had three golfers fire scores under par . WNMU has shot a pair of 282's to tally a 564 to leave them just nine-strokes back of first place. Kansas leads the 15-team field with a 555,  for a one-shot lead over Marquette. 
Missouri-Kansas City's Antoine Rozner holds a four-shot lead on the field with a 130 tally in the individual standings.
All-American Calum Hill (Kinross/Kinross High School), who looked to be finding his stroke after a two-under first round 70 continued to improve on that with a four-under 68 on Saturday. His 138 has him in a tie for fifth. 
Hill carded just one bogey on the day and outside of 13 pars, he added three birdies and an eagle which came on the par-five, 543 yard second hole. Hill was near the top in both par-four scoring (3.90) and par-five scoring (4.38). All-American Thomas Neve (Epsom, England/Cams Hill School/Merrist College), who paced the Mustangs after the first day, came back with a 74 during the second, along with his first round 66 for a 140 to tie for 14^th. 
All-American Harry Wetton (Bedford, England/The Bedford School) is tied with Neve in 14^th as he came back with an even stronger round Saturday. He opened with a one-under 71 and then fired a three-under 69 to post his 140. Neve led the Mustangs and was near the top in par-five scoring with a 4.38 average. Wetton nearly leads the field in par-four scoring collecting a 3.75 average. Neve posted a pair of birdies, while Wetton accumulated six. Deryk "Buzz" Perales was the other Mustang to shoot under par as he came away with a one-under 71 on Saturday. Along with his first round 75 he has a 146 which is tied for 47^th. He tallied four birdies and was strongest in par-three scoring posting a 3.13 average. Rounding out the golfers for the Mustangs was Robbie Kemsley (Glasgow, /The High School of Glasgow) as he had rounds of 85 and 92 for a 177 to land in 84^th. Kemsley posted one birdie on Saturday.

The third and final round of the Price's Give 'Em Five will begin on Sunday at 8 a.m. local time#
 Live scoring  will be available here.