Five Scots advance from Stage 2 to Final Q 

School, starting November 14

Five Scots - David Law, Ross Kellett, Bradley Neil, Paul Shields and Jack Doherty - have advanced from the European Tour Q School Stage 2 eliminators in Spain to the Final qualifying tournament over six rounds at PGA Catalunya, Girona, in north-east Spain, from Saturday, November 14 to Thursday the 19th
Law's last round of one-over 73 was the worst of his four at El Saler but he easily made the top 18 qualifiers from each venue. The Aberdonian earned the princely sum of 112 euros for finishing tied fifth on eight-under 280, eight behind the leading qualifier at this venue, English-botn Walker Cup hero  Jimmy Mullen (68 for 272) who earned 1,800 euros.
Ayrshire's Michael Stewart was five shots over the qualifying mark with a 72 for 290 and a share of 33rd place. 
Ross Kellett made it with nothing to spare - qualifying in joint 18th position at Las Colinas with a 71 for 278. The Paul Lawrie Golf Centre man put himself under pressure with a bogey-bogey start and a double bogey at the 16th meant he had to birdie one of the last two holes to qualify.
Kellett rose to the occasion with a birdie at the 18th.
He finished 11 shots behind leading qualifier Philipp Mejow (Germany) who closed with a 66 for 17-under 267.
Blairgowrie's Bradley Neil produced his best round of the four at Panoramica - a bogey-free, five-birdie 67 - to clinch a share of 11th place on 274.
Joint leading qualifiers at this venue were Spanish amateur Scott Fernandez - whose mother comes from the English Midlands -  and Irishman Ben Casey, both 24-under-par on 264.
Scots who failed to make it at this venue were Mark HIllson (70 for 283, five under par but only joint 44th position, and Craig Lawrie (78 for 295 and joint 65th place).
Paul Shields, playing at Lumine, earned 900 euros after producing one of the best rounds of the day, a seven-under-par 64 for 16-under-par 268 and joint third place behind leading qualifier Daniel Gavins (England) who closed with a 66 for 265. 
Jack Doherty also advanced from the Tarragona venue, closing with 67 for 13-under 271 and eighth position.
Scots who failed here were Perth amateur Daniel Young with a 71 for one-under-par 283 and  joint 52nd position - nine shots over the qualifying limit mark - and Neil Henderson who had a 72 for 289 and 63rd place.
 SCOREBOARD

EL SALER, Valencia
Par 288 (4x72)
272 J Mullen (Eng) 69 65 70 68 (1,800 euros).
276 C P Nielsen (Swe) 67 72 66 71 
SCOTS' SCORES
280 D Law 68 72 67 73 (T5)
Failed to qualify
290 M Stewart 73 74 71 72 (T33)

LAS COLINAS, Alicante
Par 284 (4x71)
267 P Mejow (Ger) 64 69 68 66  (1,800 euros)
271 J Rutherford (Eng) 67 65 68 71
Scot's score
278 R Kellett 71 67 69 71 (T18) 

PANORAMICA, Castellon
Par 288 (4x72)
264 B Casey (Ire) 65 68 64 67 (1,800 euros), S Fernandez (Spa) (am) 62 66 67 69

Scots' scores
274 B Neil 70 71 66 67 (T11)
Failed to qualify
283 M Hillson 68 73 72 70 (T44)
295 C Lawrie 73 72 72 78 (T65)

LUMINE, Tarragona
Par 284 (4x71)
265 D Gavins (Eng) 68 67 64 66 (1,800 euros)
267 D Lloyd (SAf) 69 66 66 66 

Scots' scores:
268 P Shields 67 69 68 64 (T3)
271 J Doherty 66 69 69 67 (8th)
Failed to qualify
283 D Young (am) 72 70 70 71 (T52)
289 N Henderson 72 71 74 72 (63rd)

Russell Knox now has world ranking of No 31

Russell Knox started the HSBC Champions tournament as world No 85, but has jumped up to a career-high of world No 31 after his two-shot win in Shanghai. 
That win is all-but certain to see him end the year in the world's top 50, securing his invitation to the majors in 2016. 
 As winners of WGC events get automatic European Tour exemption for three years, Knox now has European Tour membership until the end of the 2018 season should he want it. Should the Scot decide to take it up, then he would put himself in consideration to reach Darren Clarke's Ryder Cup side next autumn.

MENA Tour season-ending championship report of Day 1

Cyril Suk sets pace with career-best 63 at Al Ain

MENA TOUR NEWS RELEASE

From Viren Varma

AL AIN, UAE — Cyril Suk shot a career-best eight-under 63 to set the early pace in windy conditions at the MENA Golf Tour’s season-ending championship at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Golf Club today.

The 23-year-old from Prague picked up five shots on the front nine and three coming home in a flawless round, taking a two-shot lead over Scott Campbell, his playing partner, and Craig Hinton, both of England.

Lurking a further shot adrift at five under in solo fourth was another Englishman, Stuart Archibald, who reeled off five birdies and an eagle, but a double-bogey on the ninth prevented him from joining Suk at the top of the leaderboard. 

It was Suk who set a blistering pace, going bogey-free. “You can’t be angry after shooting eight-under. I hit my irons and wedges close to the pin and holed many good putts out there which was the key,” said Suk, the winner of the Shaikh Maktoum Dubai Open last year.

“I think I need to be a bit straighter off the tee if I were to continue with the same momentum. Overall, very pleased with my game. The greens are quite big here and one needs to be quite precise with approaches,” said Suk, who fell short of matching the course record by one shot. 

England’s Campbell was equally pleased with his efforts. “Played pretty good, solid golf, especially on the front nine where I sank many long putts,” said the 24-year-old from Sheffield, who was six under after his first 10 holes.

“I think, I hit only one bad shot all day when I drove into the water on the 14th for the lone bogey on my card. Barring that blemish, my game was pretty much on cruise control,” said the Englishman whose career-best round being a 10-under he shot at his home club a while ago. 

Bolstered by an eagle on the 18th, England’s James Allan took control of the proceedings in the amateur division, opening with a four-under 67, a good five shots ahead of his nearest challenger Rayhan Thomas of India.

“I managed to control the ball well in windy conditions, which helped a lot. I got off to a nice start with two birdies in the first three holes. I may have bogeyed a couple of holes as the round wore on, but managed to finish strongly,” said Allan, who smashed his three-iron from 230 yards to within 20 feet and holed the ensuing putt for an eagle. 

England’s Hinton mixed seven birdies with a bogey (on the seventh) to keep alive his hopes of winning his maiden title on the MENA Golf Tour. 

Morocco’s Younes Al Hassani overcame an early bogey on the third to card a two-under 69 for a one-shot lead over his compatriots Ahmed Marjan and Faycal Serghini in the MENA Division.

Elsewhere, England’s Zane Scotland, a nine-time winner on the MENA Golf Tour, returned a level-par 71 while Thriston Lawrence of South Africa, who currently leads the Order of Merit race, posted a 70 after making the run at three-under.

SCOREBOARD 
par 71
63 C Suk (Cze)
65 C Hinton (Eng), S Campbell (Eng)
66 S Archibald (Eng).

SCOTS' SCORES
68 C Lutton (T7)
70 P Doherty, B Alexander (am) (T15)
71 D Kay (T13)

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 Monday finish for US PGA Tour event: 

Castro's lead shrinks

By Kevin Casey

It took three days, but the US PGA Tour's Sanderson Farms Championship finally avoided delays. Yet the tournament still is headed toward a Monday finish.
Second-round action resumed Saturday morning at Country Club of Jackson (Miss.) and finished early in the afternoon, and the third round was suspended because of darkness at 4:48 p.m. CST. All 74 players who made the cut have yet to complete their third rounds, with the final group only six holes into their days. Tournament officials still plan for a 72-hole finish – play will resume at 7 a.m. Monday, and final-round groupings won't change as threesomes go off split tees – which means a potential 30-hole day for the leaders.
Roberto Castro, who held a four-shot lead after 36 holes, saw his margin drop to one on Saturday despite completing just six holes of play. 
 The 30-year-old bogeyed Nos. 3 and 4 to drop to 13 under. Meanwhile, D.J. Trajan posted a front-nine 34, and Michael Thompson was 2 under through seven to reach a 12-under total.
Seven players are tied for fourth at 11 under. Tyler Aldridge ( 5 under through 15) and William McGirt (4 under through 12) made the biggest third-round moves at that number. Martin Flores (5 under through 12) and Bronson Burgoon (4 under through 13) are lurking at 10 under.
Patrick Rodgers is 11 under through seven holes in his third round. 

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Bernhard Langer (Getty Images) 

Langer loses play-off to Andrade but tops Champions Tour money list for 4th year in a row

Bernhard Langer extended his remarkable record as a senior golfer by finishing runner up in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship to top the money list on the US Champions Tour for a fourth consecutive year.
The Florida-based German, who won the Senior Open Championship  in 2010 and 2014, lost on the first hole of a play-off to American Billy Andrade in the season-ending event on Desert Mountain's Cochise Course in Scottsdale, Arizona.
That result was enough to secure a second straight victory in the year-long Charles Schwab Cup, beating Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie, who had led going into the finale, by 338 points.
Montgomerie finished ten shots back in a share of 14th place in the tournament after a closing 67, and he also had to settle for third place in the money list as Langer wrapped up the top spot for a record seventh time in eight years.
It rounds off another exceptional season for 58 year old Langer, the two-time Master Champion, who had 13 top ten finishes on the Champions Tour in 19 appearances in 2015. 

He won twice, first successfully defending his title in the Constellation Senior Players Championship – recognised as a Major Championship on the Champions Tour – before last month claiming his 25th victory on the Champions Tour at the San Antonio Championship.
Montgomerie now heads to Mauritius next month where he will compete in the European Senior Tour’s season-ending MCB Tour Championship at Constance Belle Mare Plage.

 The 2010 Ryder Cup Captain has already secured the top spot on the Order of Merit, ensuring he will lift the John Jacobs Trophy for a second consecutive time.

Charles Schwab Cup Championship (Nov 5 - 8)

• Course: Desert Mountain - Cochise Course
• Par: 70
• Yardage: 6,929

1	x-Billy Andrade	65	67	70	64				266	$440,000
2	Bernhard Langer	63	68	68	67				266	$254,000
3	Michael Allen	65	64	69	70				268	$213,000
T4	Mark O'Meara	68	68	66	68				270	$158,000
T4	Jeff Sluman	69	64	71	66				270	$158,000
T6	Stephen Ames	68	67	67	69				271	$111,000
T6	Kirk Triplett	70	68	66	67				271	$111,000
8	Joe Durant	69	66	68	69				272	$93,000
T9	Olin Browne	66	67	71	69				273	$76,000
T9	Fred Couples	66	69	69	69				273	$76,000
T9	Duffy Waldorf	68	68	69	68				273	$76,000
12	Tom Lehman	69	65	71	69				274	$64,000
13	Jerry Smith	74	63	70	68				275	$59,000
T14	Jeff Maggert	72	67	71	66				276	$52,000
T14	Colin Montgomerie	70	68	71	67				276	$52,000
T14	Kenny Perry	66	66	74	70				276	$52,000
T17	Woody Austin	71	64	73	69				277	$44,500
T17	Kevin Sutherland	68	67	70	72				277	$44,500
T19	Bart Bryant	68	67	74	69				278	$39,250
T19	Ian Woosnam	70	72	69	67				278	$39,250
T21	Paul Goydos	68	68	78	65				279	$35,000
T21	Tom Pernice Jr.	70	68	68	73				279	$35,000
23	Russ Cochran	70	68	72	72				282	$32,000
T24	Scott Dunlap	71	70	74	68				283	$29,500
T24	Esteban Toledo	72	73	69	69				283	$29,500
26	Wes Short Jr.	68	72	69	75				284	$27,000
T27	Marco Dawson	73	66	75	71				285	$25,167
T27	David Frost	72	68	74	71				285	$25,167
T27	Lee Janzen	72	67	71	75				285	$25,167
30	Gene Sauers	73	72	76	71				292	$24,000
x- won playoff