Third Challenge Tour win earns   Rai  a European Tour card      EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS Aaron Rai today capped an incredible six months with a third European Challenge Tour victory of the season at Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge, securing himself European Tour status in the process. The Englishman was ruthless on the final day at Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil, recovering from a rare early blemish on the second hole to open up a two-shot advantage at the turn before he pulled away from the field on the back nine. Four birdies in five holes from the 13th gave him a six-shot cushion coming down the last and his 18 under par total of 266 was ultimately five shots better than his playing partner and overnight co-leader Morten Ørum Madsen, whose closing birdie earned him second place outright. Three victories in a season have earned Rai immediate promotion to the European Tour but, having now regained the lead in the Road to Oman Rankings, he will likely split his time between both tours for the remainder of the year. “It’s certainly the accomplishment of a life goal, earning a European Tour card,” said the 22 year old whose mother was born in Africa. “I haven’t really thought too much about the rest of the year now – next week I’m playing in Sweden on the Challenge Tour and I’ll play the Rolex Trophy. “I’ll certainly still play a few Challenge Tour events between now and the end of the year – it would obviously be nice to carry on performing very well here. “In terms of the Number One Ranking, it’s obviously a nice thing to be able to say come the end of the year but you have to just play your golf and if that’s a by-product of it, it would be another amazing achievement. “It’s been an amazing season so far, I certainly couldn’t have dreamed it going better at the start of the year, and it’s quite hard to put it into words. “It’s difficult to pick any one thing that has been particularly key, but I think a full year last year on the Challenge Tour made a big difference in terms of knowing a few of the courses and having the experience of this level of golf."   FINAL TOTALS Par 284 (4x71) 266 A Rai (Eng) 66 65 69 66 271 M Madsen (Denmark) 69 67 64 71 272 M Tullo (Chile) 64 69 69 70, R Evans (Eng) 64 69 69 70 273 C Mivis (Belgium) 68 68 67 70  274 A Velasco (Spn) 72 65 68 69  275 O Lindell (Finland) 69 65 70 71, E Van Rooyen (SAf) 70 68 68 69 276 M Fenasse (Fra) 65 69 70 72, C Sordet (Fra) 70 71 66 69 277 B Virto (Spn) 68 68 66 75, F Maccario (Ita) 70 69 71 67, M Cort (Eng) 71 67 70 69, P Maddy (Eng) 72 68 67 70 278 R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 72 70 68 68  279 D McElroy (NIre) 70 71 72 66, R Hjelm (Denmark)( 69 68 70 72, O Farr (Wales) 70 70 70 69 280 D Fox (Australia) 69 73 66 72  281 N Cullen (Australia) 70 68 71 72, G King (Eng) 72 69 75 65, D Foos (Ger) 70 72 70 69, M Lafeber (Netherlands) 72 65 72 72, M Godoy (Arg) 68 73 75 65, N Maheut (Fra) 70 70 66 75  282 T Perrot (Fra) 70 71 71 70, W Besseling (Ned) 71 72 68 71, T Linard (Fra) 68 70 72 72, M Schwab (Austria) 71 72 68 71, E Vieilledent (Fra) 70 68 74 70, J Lando Casanova (Fra) 67 76 69 70, B Eccles (Australia) 70 72 67 73, S Tiley (Eng) 71 68 68 75, M Ovesen (Denmark) 70 72 69 71, E Johansen (Norway) 71 67 69 75, T Murray (Eng) 72 71 65 74 283 C Griffiths (Eng) 69 74 70 70, A Bernadet (Fra) 71 71 67 74, R Kellett (Sco) 71 70 72 70,  284 A Saddier (Fra) 68 72 70 74, D Berna Manzanares (Spn) 71 72 71 70, M Ford (Eng) 72 67 72 73, O Stark (Swe) 70 69 72 73, S Fernandez (Spn) 74 69 72 69  285 C Selfridge (NIre) 71 68 72 74, N Geyger (Chile) 71 68 68 78, V Riu (Fra) 76 67 74 68, P Tarver-Jones (Eng) 75 68 68 74 286 G Boyd (Eng) 73 69 69 75, K Johannessen (Norway) 73 68 71 74, M Haastrup (Denmark) 71 67 73 75  287 N Johansson (Swe) 70 70 73 74, E Di Nitto (Ita) 71 72 74 70, M Lundberg (Swe) 70 71 74 72 288 F Mruzek (Czech) 74 69 74 71, J McLeary (Sco) 71 70 72 75, M Kramer (Ger) 70 71 71 76, S Piaget (Mon) 75 68 72 73, R Saxton (Netherlands) 70 69 74 75, D Huizing (Netherlands) 69 74 70 75, D Gaunt (Australia) 68 74 75 71 289 M Søgaard (Den) 70 71 70 78 290 D Mary (am) (Fra) 70 73 76 71 291 C Lee (Sco) 73 70 69 79 294 F Lacroix (am) (Fra) 71 72 76 75 296 S Henry (Sco) 70 73 74 79

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS