Paisley prevails as 69 set sail for the Final Stage

Chris Paisley won his Second Stage event of The European Tour Qualifying School at Las Colinas Golf & Country Club with a five under par last day round of 66, which took the Englishman to 17 under in total. At the Spanish event, 18 players progressed.

Those 18 spaces where hotly contested and a four man playoff ensued for the remaining three spots when Englishman Matthew Cort, Dane Christian Gloet, Australian Geoffrey Drakeford and German Sebastian Heisele all finished in tied 16^thposition on seven under par.

Heisele and Gloet progressed in 16^thand 17^thplace respectively, birdieing the second and third playoff holes, while it was Cort who missed out as Drakeford birdied the fourth playoff hole capturing the last qualifying spot in the process.

In the corresponding event at Panoramica Golf & Sport Resort, Englishman Matthew Southgate leapfrogged his compatriot Toby Tree with a five under par 65 to steal first place on 22 under par. However, again the real drama unfolded lower down the leaderboard on 13 under par as a sudden death six man playoff ensued for the remaining spaces.

After a tense battle, it was South African amateur Zander Lombard who took the 15^thspot and Dane Jeff Winther the 16^th. Gary Lockerbie then proceeded to hold his nerve to take the 17^thplace with a par three on the fifth playoff hole.

Elsewhere, Welshman Garry Houston stole the show at Campo de Golf El Saler, firing home in a seven under 65 to win the event.

But as with the other events, the real action came at the cut off for progression; Dane Daniel Løkke and Englishman Chris Lloyd hung on to take two of the last three qualifying places, where they were joined by Norwegian Espen Kofstad, who leapt up four positions to snatch qualification on two under par.

Meanwhile at the final event, Portuguese whiz Ricardo Gouveia completed his qualifying campaign with a rock steady level par 71 at Lumine Golf & Beach Club to stay at 18 under and advance on pole. A quartet of four players, consisting of France’s Guillaume Cambis, Englishmen Garrick Porteous and Nathan Kimsey and American Wes Homan, all shared the last progression spaces at nine under par.

Across the four venues, a total of 69 players qualified to the Final Stage which takes place at European Tour Destination PGA Catalunya Resort in north-east Spain next week, where the top 25 players plus ties will earn their playing rights for The 2015 Race to Dubai.