Dixon Wins Euro Tour School

England’s David Dixon was first past the post at the Qualifying School Final Stage, where 37 players secured their places in The 2012 Race to Dubai.

A closing round of 69 gave Dixon a 21 under par aggregate total and a one shot victory over his compatriot Sam Hutsby, with two more Englishmen, Andy Sullivan and Richard Bland, rounding out the top four on 19 under and 18 under par respectively.

But, as has become traditional, it was further down the leaderboard that the drama really unfolded, none more so than when American Scott Pinckney, who started the day in a tie for 66th place on one under par, fired a best-of-the-day round of 65 to take the 24th card available.

The magic number was seven under par, a mark achieved in dramatic fashion by England’s Jamie Elson after he holed a huge birdie putt on the ninth hole – his last – of the stunning Stadium Course at PGA Catalunya Resort, in Girona.

Similarly, Spaniard Agustin Domingo, whose uncle is Senior Tour champion Domingo Hospital, picked up four shots in his final five holes to claim one of the golden tickets on offer.

There was also delight for the Dutch, with The Netherlands achieving a clean sweep after all five of their players who made the cut – Wil Besseling, Reinier Saxton (both eight under par), Maarten Lafeber, Taco Remkes, and Tim Sluiter (all seven under par) – finished inside the all-important top 30.

They will now take their places on The 2012 European Tour International Schedule alongside Dixon, who is relishing the chance to add to his solitary victory at the 2008 Saint-Omer Open presented by Neuflize OBC.

He said: “It has been a very up and down day again. There were some highs and lows, but I’m really chuffed to come out on top. I hit some good shots and bad shots, and the back nine was a bit of a rollercoaster, but that’s the way it goes.

“My caddie and I talked last night and decided the attitude had to be: ‘let’s go out and win it’. We thought that would take my mind off whatever else was going on. I had a perfect start, but then hit a couple of loose ones towards the end of the front nine which caused a bit of a scare. Then I hit some great shots but one went in the water, and in the end I was happy to hold on. I holed some really good putts towards the end and got the job done.

“It’s been a very up and down year and it’s been a bit of a nightmare on and off the course, but this is an awesome way to finish and I can’t wait for next year now. The goal now has to be to try to win again. I’ve just got to go out there and do the best I can and try to get another title under my belt – that would be very nice.”

Hutsby finished second at the Final Stage for the second time in three visits to the Qualifying School, but the 23 year old is confident of retaining his playing privileges next term after learning some valuable lessons from his debut campaign on The European Tour in 2010.

He said: “It definitely feels better than the last time I got my card, and I’ve learned a lot from when I turned pro. I changed a few things that probably weren’t for the best, but just to have a shot back on The European Tour and show what I can do is pretty exciting.

“I think I’m a much stronger person than I was last time I was on Tour, so I can’t wait for the season to start. Some of the golf I played this week gives me a lot of confidence for the future. I got myself into contention a couple of times during my first year on Tour and wasn’t able to finish it off, but now I know that if I play as well as I can, I can go out there and chase down my first win.

“The main goal is to secure my card again, but hopefully I can put myself into contention again. Just being at the top of the leaderboard was an awesome feeling, I had a few butterflies in the stomach. It’s nice to be out there chasing a win, and I want to get that feeling back again as soon as possible.”

Hutsby ultimately edged his private duel with fellow former Walker Cup player Andy Sullivan, with whom he shares a management company. But the 25 year old from Birmingham was nonetheless delighted to have earned elevation to the top tier of European golf just three months after joining the professional ranks.

He said: “It’s just a relief to be finished. It was a bit weird out there today, because I wasn’t sure whether to go for it or to hold back and play safe.

“But I got towards the end and saw the leaders weren’t really pulling away, so I thought I’d have a go for it. Unfortunately it didn’t quite happen, but it’s a great week to get through and I’m really excited about next year now.

“I was a bit nervous this morning, if I’m honest. I felt the butterflies. But I also felt ready to go, and I really enjoyed it. It’s been a good year, and this really tops it off. It’s great to come through it at the first time of asking, so I couldn’t be happier.”

A total of 957 players took part in the Qualifying School, with six players successfully coming through all three Stages, namely: Hans Peter Bacher, Besseling, Emiliano Grillo, Adrian Otaegui, Pinckney and Remkes. Of the qualifiers, 17 will be making their debuts on The European Tour next year, with Spaniard Adrian Otaegui the youngest rookie at 19 years and 24 days old.

Turner Cut as Westwood Sets Pace

Niall Turner missed the cut in Thailand by one shot after a second round 75 left him four over par on Friday at the Amata Spring Country Club - trailing the blistering pace set by Lee Westwood on 20 under.

Westwood maintained his dazzling form at the Thailand Golf Championship on Friday, shooting a superb eight-under-par 64 to extend his lead currently at a staggering 14 shots after the morning session.

The world number three, who flirted with a 59 on Thursday before settling for a 60, produced another masterclass at the Amata Spring Country Club to match the Asian Tour’s 36-hole record of 20-under-par 124 held by Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat.

The 38-year-old produced eight birdies on a windy day in the Asian Tour’s season finale but found his greatest satisfaction with an eight-foot par save on his last hole, the ninth which kept him bogey-free over two rounds.

American John Daly, a two-time Major winner, shot a 73 for second place in the clubhouse while Simon Dyson of England and Japan’s Kenichi Kuboya are a shot back of Daly.

Westwood, chasing his fourth victory of the season and second in three weeks, looks poised to eclipse the largest winning margin on the Asian Tour of 13 shots held by Ernie Els of South Africa at the 2005 BMW Asian Open in China.

While he was ecstatic with his sparkling form, Westwood was amazed how far he was ahead of the chasing pack.

“It’s 14 now, outrageous isn’t it?” said a delighted Westwood after his round. “It’s still a long way to go. But at the same time, I’m looking forward to the weekend. I’m playing great and I’m feeling in total control. Every aspect of my game feels good.”

With a stiff breeze blowing over the highly rated par 72, 7,453-yard Amata Spring course, Westwood was in total control of his game. He felt his effort this morning could have been better than the opening round’s 60, which tied the Asian Tour’s 18-hole low.

“Strange really. Today almost felt better than yesterday. It was quite tough out there. The scoring is pretty tricky. 64 is a really good score. Not that 60 wasn’t a good score yesterday! I hit a lot of good shots again and hit it close. Delighted with two days’ work,” said Westwood.

“I’ll still try to play the same and try to win the tournament. I’ll try to keep the lead irrelevant and keep on playing as I’ve been playing. I’m playing pretty well and I want to maintain that and keep making birdies and no bogeys. The most satisfying shot of the day was making that eight or nine footer I holed at the last to keep the bogey off the card the last two days.

“It’ll be great. I won two weeks ago at the Nedbank (South Africa). I’ve got myself into a great position. It would be nice to win four times in a year.”

His rivals can only hope to play for second place now at the Thailand Golf Championship, one of four new events on the Asian Tour this season.

Daly, who shot three birdies against four bogeys, threw the white flag. “Playing for second is all I can do. If you told me somebody would be 20-under after four rounds, I would have been shocked but after two? He (Westwood) is just in the zone. He is putting it so good. Nobody is going to catch him so I think the thing for me to do is to go out and shoot under-par in the last two days. The course is not that easy. He is making it easy but it is not that easy for us,” said the American veteran.

Sun Sets on Irish School in Catalunya

As the wintery Spanish sun sets on a most dramatic of fourth days at the Qualifying School Final Stage being held this week at PGA Catalunya Resort in Girona, there have – as is often the case at this crucial juncture in the six day marathon to claim a much sought-after card for The European Tour – been numerous stories of both triumph but also of heartbreak.

By the close of play on Tuesday, 70 players from across the globe had secured a coveted place in the final two rounds over Catalunya’s spectacular Stadium Course, and with it a shot at the top 30 finish needed on Thursday to either become, or indeed remain, a European Tour Member.

While it was England’s Sam Hutsby - leading the final 70 at 16 under par - it was a back-and-forth tussle between three under par and four under par down at the cut-line, a battle that continued until the conclusion of the very final group on the Stadium Course and made for a nerve-wrecking wait for those already in the clubhouse.

On Tuesday morning, 148 players teed it up in northern Spain meaning 78 in the field suffered a painful exit, and no story was more agonising than that of Englishmen James Ruth and Chris Lloyd.

After both started the day at three over par and tied for 105th place, the fellow countrymen knew they would need an incredible turn of fortunes to have a chance of making the cut. Yet both set about the shorter Tour Course with great gusto and carded superb six under par rounds of 64, meaning a total score for the four days of three under par – a mark that would have seen them safely through to the event’s climax in any other year.

Teenager Lloyd, who finished 28th in the Challenge Tour Rankings this year, covered the back nine in a mere 30 blows, while 26 year old Ruth carded seven birdies on the way to his own 64.

However, their fine efforts eventually fell an excruciating one shot short thanks to Austria’s HP Bacher, who birdied two of his last three holes on the Stadium Course to move to five under par and take the cut-line to a record low of four under par.

Since the Final Stage moved to PGA Catalunya Resort in 2008, three under par would have been enough to proceed to the climactic two rounds at every other event; but despite their valiant efforts it was ultimately not enough on this occasion.

Of the other six men to narrowly drop out of the Final Stage reckoning in the last-gasp cut-change drama there were some notable names, including three-time Challenge Tour winner Philip Archer and Scotland’s Callum Macaulay, who finished 49th in the 2011 Challenge Tour Rankings. Former European Tour player John Morgan, meanwhile, sadly bogeyed three of the last six holes to miss out by three shots at one under par.

But while there were undeniably stories of distress, there were equally also tales of triumph, including Englishman Jamie Elson who began the day at one over par and in dire need of a birdie-strewn fourth round to progress.

Elson, who finished 27th in the Challenge Tour Rankings this year, made a birdie at the first hole on the Tour Course, before making another gain at the fourth hole and adding a further five coming home to sign for a best-of-the-day round of 63 which moved him to six under par.

Elson, a former Walker Cup player, said: “I needed a low one today, and that’s exactly what I got. To be honest I wasn’t really taking much notice of what the cut might be because I’ve got my category 12 card for next year already, so it’s either finish inside the top 30 or bust for me. I got off to a good start and just kept it going really. I missed a few chances but also holed some nice putts, so it was good to post a low one because I’d played poorly for the previous three days.

“I’ve been struggling with my game for a while now, but I had a good chat with my coach last night and we managed to sort a few things out, and it clicked into place today. I had no choice other than to attack from the start, and that probably helped me focus and be aggressive. You’ve got a lot of irons in your hand for your approach shots on the Tour Course, so if you can find the fairways you’ve got a good chance of hitting it close and holing some putts, especially as the greens are so good. 

“The Stadium Course is the harder of the two and I haven’t played it well so far, so I’ll have to do better for the final two days if I’ve got any chance of getting my card. It’s a long week but I’ve been here before and done the business [in 2009], so I know what it takes.”

Denmark’s Mark Haastrap also posted a fine six under par round of 64 on the Tour Course, while Dutchman Taco Remkes made a five under par 65 to make respective surges up the leaderboard and into the top 70 to continue their individual quests for a European Tour card for next season.

For the Irish golf the past four days were not good news with Waterville's David Higgins faltering in the end despite a blistering start start on Saturday by the former Tour card holder  carded a 65. On Tuesday his fourth round 71 disappointingly left on the cut-line in a share of 71st place and one shot off the mark.

Chris Devlin  finished in 101st place after his round of 68 on Tuesday, well out of contention, with Cian McNamara and Jonathan Caldwell in a tie for 139th.

Daniel Gaunt of Australia lost his playing rights also in Catalunya having failed to make an impact in his limited starts this season.

And so, four days gone, and two to go. The race for the top 30 starts here.

R4 Leaderboard

Weary Rory Out of Thai Event

Rory McIlroy has admitted his hectic recent schedule caught up with him at the Dubai World Championship over the weekend.

The US Open champion headed into the European Tour's season-ending event knowing he had to emerge victorious to deny Luke Donald the Race to Dubai money-list title.

Although he started in encouraging fashion with a 66, McIlroy faded as the week progressed and eventually finished in 11th place.

The 22-year-old acknowledged before the event began that he was suffering from a virus and has been informed he could have contracted Dengue fever.

As a result, McIlroy has pulled out of this week's Thailand Golf Championship and will now put his clubs away and rest up before getting his 2012 season underway in Abu Dhabi at the end of January.

Hectic schedule

"I think this week was one too many," he said, referring to a recent schedule that has seen him play eight tournaments in the last ten weeks, making three separate trips to Asia and one to Bermuda.

"Luke deserves it. Basically every time he's teed it up he's had a chance or he's finished in the top five or top 10. Mentally you have to be so good just to keep grinding out the scores when you need to.

"But I've made great progress this year - with my game, with my results, with everything. I feel like I'm swinging the club as good as I ever have and I feel like my body is as strong as it's ever been.

"I've won my first major and my goals are just to win tournaments and try to become a multiple-major champion."

Higgins Hindered on Tour Course

David Higgins carded a third round of 74 to drop 48 places the wrong direction on the leader board into a share of 74th place - four spots outside the projected cut for Tuesday's final round. The Waterville man faces some tough work on Tuesday to reverse matters and stay in contention for a place in the final qualifying phase on Wednesday and Thursday.  

Chris Devlin and Cian McNamara both finished Monday with rounds of 73 but are well out of contention.

Jonathan Caldwell also dropped a number of places after his third round 76.

But the former Walker Cup players Sam Hutsby and Andy Sullivan built on their fine starts at the Qualifying School Final Stage, ending the day with just one shot separating the two Englishmen at the midway stage of the six-round marathon.

On another sunny day at PGA Catalunya Resort in Girona, northern Spain, Hutsby shot a round of 68 on the Tour Course to move to 15 under par, with Sullivan signing for a 67 to close the gap to a single stroke. 

Hutsby opened with a birdie on the tenth hole, before a bogey at the 13th temporarily halted his momentum. But he rallied with a birdie at the 18th hole, and a further gain after the turn saw the 23 year old maintain his place at the head of affairs.

Were it not for a cold putter Hutsby’s advantage would have been greater, but he is still on course to complete a second successful visit to the Qualifying School, having finished runner-up behind his compatriot Simon Khan in 2009.

He said: “I only missed two greens but I just couldn’t buy a putt. So I’m a little disappointed, because I felt I played well enough to break away a bit. But I’m still leading, so I would have taken that at the start of the day. My target is six rounds in the 60s, so that goal is still on. There are still three rounds to go, but I’m in a nice position.

“I didn’t force it too much today, I just hit the greens without hitting it very close. It was always going to be a fairly tidy round because I’m playing well, but I could have been three or four shots better.

“It’s hard, because you get to holes that I birdied in the first round [when he shot 60], and if you par them you feel you’re not playing as well. So two under wasn’t really the score I was looking for but it was just one of those days on the greens, and sometimes you just have to accept it.

“It’s strange that we’re only half way. Most of us played two or three practice rounds, so it already feels like a long week but there are three rounds to go. I feel fresh though, and I’ve been sleeping well. I’ve been playing nicely, so I’m looking forward to the next three days.”

Sullivan, who played alongside Tom Lewis in Great Britain and Ireland’s triumphant 2011 Walker Cup team, mixed six birdies with three bogeys to move to 14 under par and within sight of a European Tour card just three months after joining the professional ranks.

The 25 year old, who boasted a 100 per cent record in the Foursomes at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, is determined to win his private duel with Hutsby. 

He said: “I think there is a nice little battle going on between myself and Sam. I don’t think we’d like to comment on it too much, but there’s definitely a bit of to and fro so it’s really good. We’ve played a couple of times together and been in squads together, so we know each other well enough.

“I’ve put myself in a good position now, so I’m definitely thinking about winning it. It would mean a lot to me and would probably the biggest achievement of my life, so I just have to go out there and keep doing what I’m doing.

“I’ve been a professional for three months, and I love it. I’ve probably learned more in three months than I did in my whole amateur career, so it’s been fantastic. This has definitely been my most enjoyable week as a pro, scoring wise. I’ve been playing well prior to this but just haven’t seemed to put the numbers together, so it’s nice to be able to do that finally.” 

The English duo will be joined in the final group by Peter Gustafsson, who made a fine start to his round of 66 with an eagle at the tenth hole.

The Swede won the Qualifying School in 2004 but is yet to finish inside the top 30 in two previous visits to PGA Catalunya Resort, so is hoping to rectify that record this week.

He said: “It’s only half way, so there’s still a long way to go. The guys coming straight here from the Second Stage must feel like they’ve been playing for ages! I’m feeling good and I’ve been working a lot with my fitness coach in Marbella, so everything feels good.

“My game is very solid so far, so the target is just to keep it going. You don’t want to go overboard on how well you’re playing at this stage, because it can come back and bite you over the next three rounds. But I’m very happy with where I am at the moment.”

A sublime round of 62 set Thomas Norret on course to reclaim the European Tour card he earned at the Qualifying School Final Stage 12 months ago.

The Dane, who took the 17th card last year, covered the Tour Course in just 62 strokes, firing eight birdies in an immaculate display.

Norret reached the turn in just 29 thanks chiefly to a five birdie burst from the fourth hole, before making three more gains to finish on 12 under par. 

With the top 30 and ties securing a place in The 2012 Race to Dubai, Norret is in position to secure a swift return to The European Tour, having relinquished his playing privileges after finishing in 155th place in the Money List this year.

Norret said: “It was an awesome day. I got off to a nice start, and just kept calm all day. I made five birdies in a row on the front nine, and that really got me going. We had a slow spell in the middle and got held up, but then I got back into it and played well at the end.

“It’s nice to be up there after a round like today. I felt confident coming here. I had a bad first half of the season, but over the last four or five months my game has been pretty good. I played well last week at Second Stage, and in South Africa before that at the Alfred Dunhill Championship. So I was confident coming to Final Stage, and it’s nice that it has paid off today.”

Three-time European Tour champion Nick Dougherty, meanwhile, endured a difficult day as a round of 75 left him on four over par and facing an uphill task to make Thursday’s cut.

He said: “I played really well on the front nine, and then I had a tough break. I’ve got a little bit of an ailment at the moment with my hip, where it clicks and goes, and when it does I’m lucky if I make contact with the ball. It happened on the first tee, which was my tenth hole, and made a bogey then I never really made a shot after that.

“But I hold out hope that I can get it back to how it used to be, and how it used to feel. There are some times when I do play good golf, and it feels great. For nine holes today I played phenomenal, I should have been nine under but still nothing went my way. I had two three putts to go one under through nine, and I missed two putts from inside eight feet for birdie. I should never have shot that score today, but that’s just the way it’s going for me at the moment.”