Syme (208) moves above MacIntyre
(209) and Law (211) with a 63
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Drumoig's Connor Syme shot a brilliant, eight-under-par 63 for a 54-hole tally of 208 and is now the leading Scot at the European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage at Lumine Golf Club Spain.
Professional's son Syme, pictured, former Scottish amateur champion Robert MacIntyre (71 for 209) from Oban, Aberdeen's David Law (70 for 211), Ewen Ferguson (69 for 213) and Ross Kellett (also 69 for 213) look likely to survive Tuesday's fourth-round cut which will reduce the field to the leading 70 and ties before the final two rounds which will decide the leading 25 who gain promotion to the European Tour next season.
The prospects are not good, however, for Scott Henry (68 for 215), Grant Forrest (71 for 216), Chris Doak (74 for 218) and Duncan Stewart (69 for 219).
Grantown on Spey's Stewart, for example, is currently joint 129th and needs to improve at least 49 placings on the strength of his fourth round.
Syme, who moved up to joint 20th, six shots behind Englishman Laurie Canter (67 for 202), had eight birdies in bogey-free halves of 31-32 over the par-71 Lakes Course.
MacIntyre is now T21 after having four birdies and three bogeys in his 71 at the par-72 Hills Course.
On a par scoreboard, Syme and MacIntyre are level at six under par, because two courses with different pars (71 and 72) are being used.
Law, playing at the Q School Final Stage for the third year in a row, got back on track with a two-under 70 at the Hills Course and is joint 34th. He had four birdies and two bogeys at the Hills Course.
Kellett has fought back well after an opening 77 and rounds of 67 followed by a 69 hae lifted him to a share of 68th place alongside Ferguson.
EUROPEAN TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL FINAL STAGE
Lumine Golf Club, Tarragona, Spain.
LEADING THIRD-ROUND SCORES
202 L Canter (Eng) 71 64 67.
203 S Horsfield (Eng) 69 68 66, B Evans (Eng) 69 66 68.
204 A Pavan (Ita) 65 68 71.
206 J Winther (Den) 69 67 72
SCOTS' SCORES
208 C Syme 72 73 63 (T20)
209 R MacIntyre 67 71 71 (T21)
211 D Law 68 73 73 (T34)
213 E Ferguson 74 70 69, R Kellett 77 67 68 (T68)
215 S Henry 78 69 68 (T87)
216 G Forrest 73 72 71 (T99)
218 C Doak 73 71 74 (T121)
219 D Stewart 78 72 689 (T129)
Young guns star in Third Round
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Emerging talents Sam Horsfield and Connor Syme both produced fine performances during Day Three of Qualifying School Final Stage to put themselves in contention for rookie seasons on the European Tour.
The young duo both impressed during the third round at Lumine Golf Club, with Horsfield carding a 66 on the Hills Course while Syme excelled on the Lakes Course by tying the lowest round of the tournament so far with a fine 63.
Horsfield, who joined the paid ranks in May after two years at the University of Florida, followed up scores of 69 and 68 by bagging seven birdies and one bogey during the third day in Spain.
The 21 year old, who qualified for the U.S. Open in 2015 and 2016, sits alongside Ben Evans in second place at the competition’s halfway stage, one shot behind leader Laurie Canter.
With 54 holes left to play the young Englishman knows he still has a lot of work to do if he is to make the European Tour after his first trip to Qualifying School.
“It’s going well so far,” he said. “It’s a marathon, a long old event – I’ve never played a six round event before – so to think that we don’t have one round to go, we have three rounds to go and are only halfway done, is pretty crazy.
“It’s going to be a good few days I hope. I’m just trying to play each shot at a time, you’ve just got to go out there and play your best and see what happens.
“I only turned professional five months ago. I went to the University of Florida, I did two years there, then I turned pro earlier in the summer – I was born in Manchester but moved to Orlando when I was five.
“It depends on how this week ends up but the plan is to try to come back to Europe now. I’m in a good position with three rounds to go but it’s going to be a long week and a lot of golf ahead.
“I played two U.S. Opens as an amateur, played some PGA Tour events and European Tour tournaments and see how good those guys are. They’ve been great learning experiences that I’ve been lucky enough to have.
“I think I’m ready to match that level. The aim is to get a European Tour card this week and keep improving all the time but I’m going to try not to get ahead of myself and just keep doing what I’m doing.”
Also impressing in Tarragona was Scotland’s Syme. The 22 year old, who turned professional in September after representing Great Britain & Ireland in the Walker Cup, was delighted to have signed for his best score as a professional.
“I felt that a good round was coming,” he said. “I played very well over the first two days but I didn’t get much out of them at all, so it was good to see a few putts dropping today.
“It felt like a Moving Day even though we are only halfway through – so it was a bit of a different experience. But I just kept patient and it was a very solid round of golf.
“It was a lot calmer this morning than it has been during the last two days and it was nice to take advantage of them.
“I didn’t feel like I hit it any closer. It’s crazy really to be ten shots different from yesterday. Although I made a silly mistake on 18 yesterday I just played the same – just today the putts were going in.
“I have shot eight under before in a few events, including one pro event, but this is my lowest round as a pro.”
“It is a strange format with there being six rounds and it is very much a marathon. Yesterday I was looking at myself in 95th on the leaderboard but knew that there was still so much golf to be played.
“You have to just keep plodding a few and keep doing my same numbers and same routines and hopefully this form carries on.”
Canter remained calmest on the third day in Spain, with the 28 year old picking up five birdies on his way to a bogey-free 67 that took him one clear of the field, with overnight co-leaders Tom Murray and Andrea Pavan faltering slightly, though Pavan rallied with two late birdies to remain within two shots of the lead.
Moving into the top 20 were European Tour winner Kristoffer Broberg on his return from injury and Irish hotshot Gavin Moynihan, who both shot rounds of 67 to climb to seven under par.
Following the conclusion of the fourth round tomorrow there will be a cut, with the top 70 and ties progressing to the final two days.
On Thursday, after the completion of six rounds, the top 25 and ties will earn European Tour cards.
ALL THE SCORES AFTER ROUND 3
202 L Canter (Eng) 71 64 67;
203 S Horsfield (Eng) 69 68 66; B Evans (Eng) 69 66 68;
204 A Pavan (Ita) 65 68 71;
206 J Winther (Den) 67 67 72;
207 M Schwab (Aut) 71 69 67; K Johannessen (Nor) 71 69 67; C Braeunig (Ger) 70 70 67; Ó Serna (Mex) 68 72 67; J Thomson (Eng) 67 72 68; M Foster (Eng) 67 72 68; S Manley (Wal) 69 68 70;
208 C Syme (Sco) 72 73 63; C Ford (Eng) 73 69 66; C Blomstrand (Swe) 72 69 67; K Broberg (Swe) 70 71 67; G Moynihan (Irl) 69 72 67; J Heath (Eng) 72 68 68; M Baldwin (Eng) 71 69 68; G Stal (Fra) 64 71 73; T Murray (Eng) 70 63 75;
209 P Widegren (Swe) 69 72 68; J Munro (Aus) 69 71 69; S Heisele (Ger) 72 67 70; H Sturehed (Swe) 67 71 71; R Macintyre (Sco) 67 71 71;
210 J Janewattananond (Tha) 74 71 65; A Michael (RSA) 73 71 66; O Lindell (Fin) 73 71 66; E Park (Kor) 72 72 66; L Gagli (Ita) 71 73 66; S Tiley (Eng) 72 70 68; M Millar (Aus) 74 67 69; J Quesne (Fra) 69 72 69; A Knappe (Ger) 69 72 69; N Geyger (Chi) 67 74 69; C Lloyd (Eng) 68 71 71; C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 69 69 72;
211 M Iten (Sui) 74 70 67; F Aguilar (Chi) 73 70 68; R McGowan (Eng) 72 71 68; K Samooja (Fin) 73 69 69; G Fernandez - Castaño (Esp) 72 70 69; A Hansen (Den) 71 71 69; J Huldahl (Den) 67 75 69; M Nixon (Eng) 70 71 70; D Law (Sco) 68 73 70; N Kimsey (Eng) 68 73 70; A Arnaus (Esp) 70 70 71;
212 J Walters (RSA) 75 71 66; T Lewis (Eng) 75 69 68; D Papadatos (Aus) 71 73 68; P Angles (Esp) 73 70 69; M Fenasse (Fra) 73 70 69; A Hall (Aus) 73 69 70; J Kruyswijk (RSA) 71 71 70; J Edfors (Swe) 70 72 70; Å Nilsson (Swe) 71 69 72; P Pittayarat (Tha) 70 70 72; K Koivu (am) (Fin) 70 70 72;
213 R Kellett (Sco) 77 67 69; E Ferguson (Sco) 74 70 69; S Vincent (Zim) 72 72 69; R Gonzalez (Arg) 71 73 69; M Giles (Aus) 76 66 71; M Schneider (Ger) 68 74 71; E Johansen (Nor) 68 73 72; P Howard (Eng) 73 66 74; S Gros (Fra) 70 69 74; P Mejow (Ger) 69 70 74; J Vecchi Fossa (Ita) 67 71 75;
214 C Nilsson (Swe) 77 70 67; R Petersson (Swe) 73 73 68; H Leon (Chi) 73 72 69; M Lundberg (Swe) 74 70 70; J Rutherford (Eng) 72 72 70; M Lafeber (Ned) 68 73 73; O Wilson (Eng) 67 74 73; J Arnoy (Nor) 70 68 76;
215 C Sharvin (Nir) 74 74 67; O Gillberg (am) (Swe) 73 75 67; S Henry (Sco) 78 69 68; R Green (Aus) 74 72 69; P Maddy (Eng) 77 68 70; D Huizing (Ned) 73 72 70; J Hansen (Den) 72 73 70; R McGee (Irl) 72 73 70; E De La Riva (Esp) 73 71 71; M Orrin (Eng) 72 72 71; J Geary (Nzl) 72 71 72; L Nemecz (Aut) 70 73 72; J Dean (Eng) 69 74 72; A Blyth (Aus) 71 71 73;
216 A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) 76 72 68; S Sharma (Ind) 75 73 68; E Di Nitto (Ita) 76 70 70; A Cañizares (Esp) 73 73 70; J Parry (Eng) 70 76 70; T Cocha (Arg) 74 71 71; G Forrest (Sco) 73 72 71; M Lampert (Ger) 73 72 71; M Jonzon (Swe) 72 73 71; J Carlsson (Swe) 76 68 72; T Tree (Eng) 72 72 72; S Khan (Eng) 72 71 73; S Webster (Eng) 69 74 73; M Armitage (Eng) 71 71 74; N Fasth (Swe) 72 69 75; J Veerman (USA) 71 70 75;
217 F Fritsch (Ger) 75 74 68; S Gregory (Eng) 73 74 70; R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 72 75 70; R Kakko (Fin) 69 78 70; A Haig (RSA) 74 71 72; N Cullen (Aus) 73 72 72; B Easton (RSA) 69 73 75; H Otto (RSA) 70 71 76;
218 D McElroy (Nir) 74 75 69; J Fernandez-Valdes (Arg) 78 70 70; M Ford (Eng) 74 72 72; R Dinwiddie (Eng) 73 73 72; S Dyson (Eng) 77 68 73; D Foos (Ger) 72 73 73; D Brown (Eng) 71 74 73; C Doak (Sco) 73 71 74; J Lima (Por) 74 69 75; J Brun (Fra) 72 71 75; J Van Der Vaart (Ned) 69 74 75;
219 D Stewart (Sco) 78 72 69; B Hafthorsson (Isl) 73 72 74; J Sjöholm (Swe) 71 73 75;
220 M Madsen (Den) 77 73 70; A Rosaye (Fra) 72 77 71; S Soderberg (Swe) 71 75 74; J Stalter (Fra) 70 76 74;
221 M Trappel (Aut) 73 76 72; R McEvoy (Eng) 70 78 73; R Echenique (Arg) 76 71 74; M Salminen (Fin) 71 72 78;
222 J Erkenbeck (USA) 73 73 76; F Dreier (Den) 72 74 76;
223 B Ritthammer (Ger) 82 71 70; L Vaisanen (Fin) 77 74 72; R Enoch (Wal) 74 77 72; S Hutsby (Eng) 74 74 75;
224 C Del Moral (Esp) 78 76 70; A Meronk (Pol) 79 72 73; M Kim (Kor) 76 74 74; A Rozner (Fra) 69 81 74; T Sinnott (Aus) 74 73 77;
225 G Porteous (Eng) 78 74 73;
226 J Jeong (Kor) 76 77 73
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