Heroes and heart break as axe falls in Girona

<strong>By Will Pearson, europeantour.com <br />
at PGA Catalunya Resort</strong>

As England’s Matt Ford secured top billing with 36 holes to come at the European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage, there were plenty of enthralling sub-plots on Cut Day in Girona with the usual blend of agony and ecstasy, surges and slumps that this annual marathon continually provokes.

From the incredible exploits of American John Hahn, to heart-breaking near misses, an emotion-fuelled fourth round in sun-kissed Girona really did have a little bit of everything.

With the cut eventually falling at one under par, 78 players made it through to the final two rounds across the Stadium layout, with just 11 of the 29 European Tour winners who started on Saturday surviving, while only two of those are situated inside the card mark as it stands in Ricardo Gonzalez and John Parry.

Now, with 72 holes done and two days left to come, europeantour.com recaps some tales of triumph and torture on Tuesday.

<strong>FROM OUT TO IN</strong>

No move in round four was more heroic, more captivating, than that of Ohio native Hahn, who fired a quite frankly ridiculous 12 under par score of 58 on the Tour Course.

Hahn, who started four shots outside the cut mark after 54 holes, surged 92 places up the leaderboard from 105th on Monday evening and into a tie for 12th following the fourth round, and is subsequently well on target to win his card in Girona for the second year running.

Elsewhere, South African Justin Walters shot an almost-as-impressive eight under par 62 on Tuesday to jump 63 places from 117th to tied 54th and one shot inside that all-important cut number.

Germany’s Marcel Schneider signed for a five under par 65 on the Tour Course to make the mark on one under par along with European Tour winner Fredrik Andersson-Hed (66), Daniel Waltman and Dave Coupland (68).

Northern Irishman Gareth Maybin had ten birdies, a triple bogey and a double bogey in a mad-cap 65 to make the cut by one shot alongside Scandinavians Jeppe Huldahl (66), Jens Fahrbring (67) and Antti Ahokas (69), while Philip Archer’s 67 was the joint best of the day on the longer Stadium Course and a round which saw the veteran Englishman make the cut by two on three under par.

<strong>FROM IN TO OUT</strong>

On the opposite end of the emotional spectrum, Australian Marcus Both shot a two over par 74 on the Stadium Course where, after starting two inside the cut-line at the start of the day, the Asian Tour player made an unfortunate bogey at the par four 18th to miss the cut by one agonising shot.

South African Trevor Fisher Jnr, meanwhile, dropped 39 places on the leaderboard following a five over par 77 on the Stadium and, having been three clear of the drop zone at the start of the day, ended up missing by three shots in the end.

<strong>THE NEARLY MEN</strong>

Starting the day five shots outside the cut-line, England’s William Harrold knew something special was required on Tuesday to give himself a chance at action over the last two days in north-eastern Spain – and he very nearly delivered.

Harrold fought valiantly, firing a five under par 65 across the Tour layout, yet still missed out by just a single stroke, as did Belgian Hugues Joannes (67).

Sweden’s Peter Hedblom, meanwhile, had two eagles on his back nine – including one on the very last hole – yet still could not avoid the cut by the narrowest of margins.

<strong>NOTABLE ABSENTEES </strong>

After a couple of withdrawals and retirements, 62 players eventually missed the cut at PGA Catalunya including three-time European Tour winners Nick Dougherty and Johan Edfors plus England’s Lee Slattery, who missed out on retaining his European Tour playing privileges by just one place after finishing 111th in The 2014 Race to Dubai.

Ricardo Santos, the 2012 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year, was another to miss out as was 17-time Q-School veteran Garry Houston and former Final Stage victors Simon Wakefield and Oscar Henningsson, plus European Tour winners Ariel Canete, Rhys Davies and Ross McGowan.