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Dermot McElroy finished his weather delayed final round of the European Tour Qualifying School on Wednesday at Lumine Golf and Beach Club with a level par 71. A result that secured the Irish amateur eighteenth place outright in Tarragona and the last spot for the Final Stage next week.
A pair of birdies and bogeys either side of the turn were the result of his work on the final day and a five under par aggregate score. Enough to separate the Ballymena golfer by a stroke from the larger chasing groups.
McElroy has shown promise from an early age and a couple of years ago - then aged 17 - he was one step away from winning the North of Ireland, losing out in the final at Royal Portrush to Alan Dunbar. Who ironically failed to get through Stage Two this week.
Five years ago McElroy won the Connacht under-15, the Leinster under-15s, the Ulster under-15s and the Irish under-15 titles in the same season. Last year he was named in a 12-man preliminary Great Britain and Ireland squad for the St Andrews Trophy match against Continental Europe to be played at Portmarnock in August.
This season at the Northern Ireland Challenge presented by Clannah and XJet McElroy finished T9.
England’s Chris Hanson finished the protracted Qualifying School Second Stage at Lumine after closing with a round of 68 in Tarragona.
Hanson led 18 qualifiers from the northern Spain venue on 15 under par, five strokes clear of his nearest challengers, Scotland’s Raymond Russell and English amateur Callum Shinkwin, who signed off with respective rounds of 69 and 70.
The 18 qualifiers from Lumine Golf will join the 35 players who progressed from Las Colinas Golf and Country Club and Campo de Golf El Saler at next week’s Final Stage, which will again be held at PGA Catalunya Resort, in Girona.
Gareth Shaw will not be part of that group next week however, having finished his similalry weather delayed final round at Valle Romano in a 2 over par 73.
Two double bogeys on his front nine pushed the Upper Ballinderry man in the wrong direction on the leaderboard from the outset, needing a minimum four under par to have a chance, and reaching the halfway in 40 strokes left him struggling.
A fightback of sorts on the home stretch gave some hope, but there was too much ground to recover, and unable to repeat the one sub 70 round which he carded on day two.
A former Amateur 2006 Eisenhower Trophy 2007, 08 winner), a Palmer Cup 2002 winner, 2003 winner of the Jacques Leglise Trophy - as well as a representative record from 2002-07 of Boys, Youths, Seniors honours.
This is Shaw's sixth visit to Q School and it will be a disappointing result for the Team Ireland golfer who had started this season very determined to make the breakthrough onto the main Tour.
Despite enduring a difficult final day at Las Colinas Golf & Country Club, James Heath still led 17 qualifiers home as the European Tour Qualifying School Second Stage came to a close at the Alicante venue.
The Englishman, who held a substantial lead overnight, signed off with a round of 75, but that closing effort was still good enough to finish top of the pile on 15 under par.
Heath was followed home by rising South African star Brandon Stone, who closed with a 69 for a 14 under par aggregate total.
Welshman Liam Bond (13 under), England’s James Robinson (12 under) and American John Hahn (11 under) rounded out the top five.
The qualifying mark fell on two under par, with six players contesting a play-off for the last four places in the Final Stage.
The Swedish duo of Oscar Floren and Joakim Rask emerged triumphant alongside German amateur Christopher Dammert and Spaniard Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, with France’s Michael Lorenzo-Vera and Germany’s Max Glauert the men to miss out – although they could still make the Final Stage as Alternates, in the event of injuries or withdrawals.
At Campo de Golf El Saler, home favourite Carlos del Moral romped to victory by five shots after signing off with a round of 71 for an eight under par aggregate total.
England’s Jason Barnes finished second on three under par, one shot ahead of Frenchman Thomas Linard and Italian Niccolo Quintarelli.
With 18 players progressing from El Saler, there was a five-way play-off for the final two spots after Jerome Casanova, Christophe Brazillier, Matthias Grönberg, Chris Lloyd and Andrey Pavlov all finished on three over par.
The two who prevailed were Casanova, courtesy of birdie at the first extra hole, and Grönberg, who eventually saw off Lloyd on the sixth extra hole.
Meanwhile, over at Valle Romano Golf in Estepona, the third round was finally completed with Frenchman Edouard Espana leading the way on 12 under par.
High winds had forced officials to suspend play on Monday, but Espana made the most of the calmer conditions on Tuesday to lead by two strokes from Australian Scott Arnold and Sweden’s Alexander Björk, who posted respective rounds of 69 and 68.
The fourth round was completed on Wednesday, as it was at Lumine Golf & Beach Club, where high winds forced a suspension at 12.55pm on Tuesday. Play resumed at 4.15pm but was again halted 25 minutes later.
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