Qualifying School: Second Stage recap

2014 European Tour Qualifying School: Second Stage

While the "big boys" of the Tour have been playing in the money-filled Final Series events, those who will be looking to gain a European Tour card at the Final Stage (November 15-20) were battling it out for 17 spots at four Second Stage sites across Spain.  Here is a rundown of the notable qualifiers from each site, as well as those who failed to advance:

Las Colinas Golf & Country Club (results)

Those who qualified:  Several Englishmen made it through (seven of the 17), including the winner Chris Paisley, Sam Walker, Jamie Elson, and Richard McEvoy.  Asian Tour regulars Carlos Pigem and Jaako Makitalo also progressed.  

Those who failed to qualify:  Budding stars of the future, Nathan Holman and Jordan L. Smith, did not advance.  Keith Horne, Raymond Russell, Joel Sjöholm, and Gary Boyd were a few shots too high to finish among the top-17.  

Campo de Golf El Saler (results)

Those who qualified:  Matthew Fitzpatrick, the 2013 U.S. Amateur winner, finished tied-fifth.  Tim Sluiter and Espen Kofstad will look to regain their places on the main Tour after struggling the past few seasons.

Those who failed to qualify:  Dominic Foos, a promising talent from Germany, missed out.  2014 European Tour members Jamie McLeary, Jack Doherty, and Andreas Hartø all failed to advance.  

Lumine Golf & Beach Club (results)

Those who qualified:  Ricardo Gouveia, the winner of this event, has had an incredible last month or so, with a win in a Challenge Tour event being the highlight.  Garrick Porteous, Nathan Kimsey, Jason Scrivener are potential stars of the future who also made it through.

Those who failed to qualify:  2014 Tour members James Heath, François Calmels, and Jens Dantorp failed to advance.  1999 Ryder Cup team member Jarmo Sandelin (five European Tour wins) and Mathias Grönberg (four European Tour wins) were among those who did not qualify.

Panoramica Golf & Sport Resort (results)

Those who qualified:  English prodigy Toby Tree finished second.  Joël Stalter, who turned professional this year, finished in a tie for third.  Hadyn Porteous (no relation to Garrick) is a South African with loads of talent.  Renato Paratore will be the next Italian big name on Tour.

Those who failed to qualify:  2014 Tour members Adam Gee and Brinson Paolini did not make it through to the Final Stage.  Young South African Brandon Stone did not advance.  Longtime Tour member Maarten Lafeber, who lost his card last season, did not qualify for the third and final stage.     

The week in review

Marcel Siem triumphed in a playoff over Ross Fisher and Alex Levy in the first event of the Final Series, the BMW Masters in Shanghai, China.  The German moved to number four in the Race to Dubai and recorded his fourth European Tour win in the process.  Siem had undergone two surgeries already this season and was struggling with a knee injury prior to the event.  The emotional and fiery player moved to 70th from 143rd in the Official World Golf Rankings.  Levy, who had a four-stroke lead going into the final round, shot 78 but he continues to have a breakout season.  Fisher shot an impressive 67 and was lucky to get into the playoff, but it was nice to see the Englishman return to form in time for the Turkish Open next week and the Dubai World Tour Championship the following week.

On the Challenge Tour, I was absolutely delighted to see Nick Dougherty finish in a tie for ninth place.  The three-time European Tour winner lost his main tour card in 2011 and has struggled for the most part since then, with five top-tens (all on Challenge Tour) being his best results since then.  But there has been reason for optimism based on his last three events.  His missed the cut by one stroke in the Wales Open, finished T58th in the Dunhill Links Championship, and then his top-ten last week.  With the final stage of Qualifying School (November 15-20) fastly approaching, the Englishman is coming in with some form and I expect him to perform well in Spain.