MacIntyre, Law only Scots to break 70 at first 

round of European Tour School Final Stage

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Oban left-hander Robert MacIntyre scraped through the Stage 2 eliminator earlier in the week, thanks a brilliant last-round 66, and the former Scottish amateur champion and Walker Cup player has continued where he left off with an opening score of four-under-par 67 at the Lakes Course, one of two courses being used at Lumine Golf Club, Tarragona, Spain for the Final Stage of the European Tour Qualifying School.

MacIntyre, pictured, had bogey-free halves of 31 and 36 with birdies at the third, fifth, sixth and ninth.
He is one of nine Scots in field of 156 seeking to be one of the leading 25 and ties who will gain playing eights on the European Tour at the conclusion of the marathon six-round contest.
The field will be cut to the leading 70 and ties after four rounds.
Aberdeen's David Law is hoping it is a case of third time lucky for him this year after twice making it through to the Final Q School in 2015 and 2016 but failing to gain pass marks.
Law shot a three-under-par 68 at the Lakes Course with birdies at the second, fifth, eighth, 11th and 16th. He bogeyed the sixth and ninth in halves of 34.
The other seven Scots failed to break 70 which, in this highly competitive environment, means they have a lot of ground to make up on their rivals who hit the ground running.
Connor Syme had a 72, Grant Forrest and Chris Doak both 73s, Ewen Ferguson a 74, Ross Kellett a 77, and Scott Henry and Duncan Stewart both had 78s.
Kellett, Henry and Stewart look to be out of contention already but sub-70 scores over the next three days would change their fortunes around.
+Scroll down past the scores for a complete summary of the first-day highlights + all the scores

FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD
Lumine Golf Club, Tarragona, Spain

LAKES COURSE 
par 71
64 G Stal (Fra)
65 A Pavan (Ita)
67 N Geyger (Chile), J Thomson (Eng), H Sturehed (Swe), M Foster (Eng), R MacIntyre (Sco).

Other Scots scores:
68 D Law.
73 G Forrest

HILLS COURSE
par 72
67 J Pape Huldahl (Den), O Wilson (Eng), J Vecchi Fossa (Ita), J Winther (Den).
68 O Serna (Mex), M Lafeber (Ned)/

Scots scores:
72 C Syme
73 C Doak
74 E Ferguson
77 R Kellett

78 D Stewart, S Henry

FRENCHMAN GARY SETS PACE WITH SEVEN-UNDER 64

Round One Report Gary Stal soared to the top of the leaderboard after carding a bogey-free seven under par round of 64 during Day One of European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage. The Frenchman, who held of challenges from Martin Kaymer and Rory McIlroy to triumph at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in 2015, bagged five birdies and an eagle during an exceptional opening round at Lumine Golf Club. Starting on the par four tenth, the 25 year old began with six consecutive pars before making his first gain of the day at the testing par five 16th – then showed his short game prowess by chipping in for eagle at the 18th. Stal, who last progressed from Qualifying School in 2013, continued to impress over the front nine, his back nine, by carding four further birdies to sit one shot ahead of Italy’s Andrea Pavan after 18 holes. Although content with his opening day display, Stal knows that there is still a long way to go in Tarragona – but believes he has the game to regain his European Tour card after five more rounds. “I am very happy with my start,” said Stal, who competed at Lumine’s Lakes Course today – and will play the Hills Course tomorrow. “It is a very long tournament with there being six rounds but my game is good and we will see what happens. “I drove the ball really well today – very straight. I was also very accurate with my long irons and I managed to hole a few putts so all in all it was a great opening day. “I played really solid, I holed everything between five and six feet, and my best moment of the day came at the 18th where I chipped in from the edge of the green. “It was my first time playing here and it is a really good course. It was not easy in the windy conditions today so I am very happy with my score. “Tomorrow should be more difficult as the Hills Course is a lot more exposed, but I feel very confident after my performance today.” Also impressing during the first round in Spain was Pavan, who arrived in Tarragona in fine form having won at Second Stage in Panoramica just six days ago. After a 65 on the Lakes Course the 28 year old sits in solo second, with former Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson one of four competitors who sit one shot further back in tied third place. ALL THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES 64 G Stal (Fra) ;  65 A Pavan (Ita) ;  67 M Foster (Eng) ; J Winther (Den) ; N Geyger (Chi) ; J Vecchi Fossa (Ita) ; J Thomson (Eng) ; H Sturehed (Swe) ; R Macintyre (Sco) ; O Wilson (Eng) ; J Huldahl (Den) ;  68 Ó Serna (Mex) ; M Lafeber (Ned) ; D Law (Sco) ; N Kimsey (Eng) ; E Johansen (Nor) ; C Lloyd (Eng) ; M Schneider (Ger) ;  69 P Widegren (Swe) ; S Webster (Eng) ; A Knappe (Ger) ; J Quesne (Fra) ; B Evans (Eng) ; J Munro (Aus) ; R Kakko (Fin) ; C Bezuidenhout (RSA) ; B Easton (RSA) ; A Rozner (Fra) ; S Horsfield (Eng) ; P Mejow (Ger) ; J Dean (Eng) ; S Manley (Wal) ; J Van Der Vaart (Ned) ; G Moynihan (Irl) ;  70 J Stalter (Fra) ; L Nemecz (Aut) ; K Broberg (Swe) ; C Braeunig (Ger) ; S Gros (Fra) ; J Arnoy (Nor) ; T Murray (Eng) ; M Nixon (Eng) ; H Otto (RSA) ; J Edfors (Swe) ; J Parry (Eng) ; A Arnaus (Esp) ; P Pittayarat (Tha) ; R McEvoy (Eng) ; K Koivu (am) (Fin) ;  71 M Armitage (Eng) ; L Gagli (Ita) ; D Brown (Eng) ; J Sjöholm (Swe) ; J Kruyswijk (RSA) ; L Canter (Eng) ; M Schwab (Aut) ; S Soderberg (Swe) ; M Baldwin (Eng) ; J Veerman (USA) ; D Papadatos (Aus) ; K Johannessen (Nor) ; M Salminen (Fin) ; R Gonzalez (Arg) ; Å Nilsson (Swe) ; A Blyth (Aus) ; A Hansen (Den) ;  72 C Blomstrand (Swe) ; D Foos (Ger) ; S Tiley (Eng) ; A Rosaye (Fra) ; R McGowan (Eng) ; S Vincent (Zim) ; J Heath (Eng) ; T Tree (Eng) ; J Hansen (Den) ; M Jonzon (Swe) ; C Syme (Sco) ; J Geary (Nzl) ; J Rutherford (Eng) ; R McGee (Irl) ; S Heisele (Ger) ; S Khan (Eng) ; N Fasth (Swe) ; J Brun (Fra) ; E Park (Kor) ; R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) ; F Dreier (Den) ; G Fernandez - Castaño (Esp) ; M Orrin (Eng) ;  73 S Gregory (Eng) ; E De La Riva (Esp) ; A Hall (Aus) ; C Doak (Sco) ; N Cullen (Aus) ; B Hafthorsson (Isl) ; R Petersson (Swe) ; A Michael (RSA) ; F Aguilar (Chi) ; J Erkenbeck (USA) ; R Dinwiddie (Eng) ; M Trappel (Aut) ; O Lindell (Fin) ; C Ford (Eng) ; H Leon (Chi) ; P Angles (Esp) ; M Lampert (Ger) ; G Forrest (Sco) ; A Cañizares (Esp) ; K Samooja (Fin) ; D Huizing (Ned) ; P Howard (Eng) ; M Fenasse (Fra) ; O Gillberg (am) (Swe) ;  74 M Ford (Eng) ; M Millar (Aus) ; M Lundberg (Swe) ; S Hutsby (Eng) ; J Janewattananond (Tha) ; D McElroy (Nir) ; M Iten (Sui) ; A Haig (RSA) ; J Lima (Por) ; T Cocha (Arg) ; R Enoch (Wal) ; E Ferguson (Sco) ; R Green (Aus) ; T Sinnott (Aus) ; C Sharvin (Nir) ;  75 F Fritsch (Ger) ; J Walters (RSA) ; J Girrbach (Sui) ; S Sharma (Ind) ; T Lewis (Eng) ;  76 R Echenique (Arg) ; M Giles (Aus) ; A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) ; J Carlsson (Swe) ; J Jeong (Kor) ; M Kim (Kor) ; E Di Nitto (Ita) ;  77 S Dyson (Eng) ; R Kellett (Sco) ; C Nilsson (Swe) ; L Vaisanen (Fin) ; P Maddy (Eng) ; M Madsen (Den) ;  78 J Fernandez-Valdes (Arg) ; N Holman (Aus) ; S Henry (Sco) ; G Porteous (Eng) ; C Del Moral (Esp) ; D Stewart (Sco) ; J Fahrbring (Swe) ;  79 A Meronk (Pol) ;  81 N Von Dellingshausen (Ger) ;  82 B Ritthammer (Ger)

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