Struggling players look to perform at Nordea Masters

Q-school grads are running out of events before the first re-rank of the season.  Last season, the re-rank occurred the week after the U.S. Open (BMW International Open).  If that holds true, the Lyoness Open will be the last event prior to the re-rank.  While playing opportunities for the qualifying graduates, especially those far down on the list, have been sparse, there have been success stories.  Italian Marco Crespi, who finished 3rd at the 2013 Final Stage of Qualifying School, won the NH Collection Open, a dual-ranking event counting for both the European and Challenge Tours.  Englishman Daniel Brooks, who finished 19th at q-school, won the Madeira Islands Open, also a dual-ranking event, in what ended up being a fog-shortened, 36-hole event.  Others have made great starts to the 2014 campaign, such as Thomas Pieters (68th on the Race to Dubai), who lost out in a playoff at the Open de Espana two weeks ago; Wade Ormsby (71st), who has two top-10s; Carlos del Moral (82nd), who continues to play well following a poor season in 2013; and Fabrizio Zanotti (85th), who is looking to make last season's 140th finish a distant memory.  These four players are looking good to be the top-four on the re-rank.

For others, it's been a tough start to the season, with starts few and far between.  These players have not been eligible for the upper-echelon tournaments on Tour, often gaining entry into lower purse events.  Out of 24 completed events, several players have played in less than half.  John Hahn, Adrien Saddier, Brinson Paolini, Simon Wakefield, Mikael Lundberg, Alastair Forsyth, and James Heath (10 events each); Estanislao Goya, Adam Gee, Jack Doherty (9 apiece); Mikko Korhonen (eight); and Patrik Sjoland (seven).  So this week's €1,500,000 Nordea Masters in Malmo, Sweden, and next week's €1,000,000 Lyoness Open in Atzenbrugg, Austria, will likely be do or die for these players far down on the Race to Dubai.

How this year's q-school grads have fared (ranking based on finish at 2013 Qualifying School):

1. Carlos del Moral (8 made cuts/13 events, 82nd on Race to Dubai, €146,593)
2. Fabrizio Zanotti (7/13, 85th, €144,691)
3. Marco Crespi (7/13, 66th, €189,169)
4. Gary Stal (9/12, 110th, €99,759)
5. Mikael Lundberg (4/10, 181st, €22,160)
6. Adrien Saddier (4/10, 118th, €89,124)
7. John Hahn (5/10, 109th, €100,441)
8. Connor Arendell (3/8, 186th, €19,072)

9. Wade Ormsby (9/12, 71st, €169,701)

10. Stuart Manley (5/12, 102nd, €114,775)

11. James Morrison (9/11, 125th, €77,669)

12. James Heath (2/10, 207th, €13,150)

13. Simon Wakefield (5/10, 138th, €59,105)

14. Jens Dantorp (7/11, 137th, €62,308)

15. Brinson Paolini (4/10, 163rd, €34,953)

16. Patrik Sjoland (4/7, 206th, €13,855)

17. Kevin Phelan (4/11, 129th, €68,765)

18. Andreas Harto (0/11)
19. Daniel Brooks (9/11, 94th, €132,491)
20. Thomas Pieters (3/12, 68th, €184,452)
21. Lucas Bjerregaard (9/11, 107th, €105,423)
22. Jason Knutzon (5/7, 144th, €51,545)
23. Mikko Korhonen (4/8, 148th, €48,552)
24. Estanislao Goya (4/9, 179th, €24,080)
25. Jack Doherty (2/9, 237th, €6,000)
26. Adam Gee (4/9, 188th, €17,490)
27. Alastair Forsyth (5/10, 168th, €32,631)

Q-School: Final Stage preview

European Tour Final Qualifying Stage
PGA Calalunya Resort (Girona, Spain)

Beginning tomorrow, the European Tour's Final Stage of Qualifying School will commence.  Spread out over six rounds (72-hole cut), the tournament separates the men from the boys.  Players will leave with either joy or heartbreak.

Here are some quick facts about the makeup of the field of 156 players:

• 27 countries represented (England has the most with 33 players)
• 34 players have made it all the way from the First Stage
• Field comprises 39 European Tour winners (63 wins between these players)
• Seven players with three European Tour wins apiece: Nick Dougherty, Johan Edfors, Kenneth Ferrie, Mathias Grönberg, Peter Hedblom, Pablo Martin Benavides, and Phillip Price 
• Two players with over 500 European Tour appearances: Price (556) and Ignacio Garrido (552)
• Two players with over 400 European Tour appearances: Hedblom (454) and Maarten Lafeber (408)
• Three players with Ryder Cup experience: Garrido (1997), Price (2002), and Oliver Wilson (2008)
• Eight former Seve Trophy players: Markus Brier (2007), Dougherty (2005, 2007, 2009), Bradley Dredge (2005, 2007), Garrido (2003), Grönberg (2002), Lafeber (2005), Price (2000, 2003), and Wilson (2007, 2009)
• Three amateurs: Christopher Dammert (Germany), Dermot McElroy (Northern Ireland), and Callum Shinkwin (England)

The top-25 and ties will gain European Tour cards and will immediately have the opportunity to compete on Tour as the 2014 season begins with the South African Open Championship, less than a week following the conclusion of Qualifying School.

There are players in the field that look almost certain to regain their cards based on their form in the past few months on Tour, such as Fredrik Andersson-Hed, David Higgins, Tjaart van der Walt, and Richard Finch.  So I look for these four players to regain their places on Tour with relative ease.

There are also numerous Challenge Tour players who will be looking to continue their fine play which has been on display recently: Oliver Wilson, Lucas Bjerregaard, Rhys Davies, Niklas Lemke, Duncan Stewart, Wil Besseling, Andrew MacArthur, and Brandon Stone.

Also, there are players who have played in previous stages of Q-School this season that have finished at the high-end of the leaderboard: Liam Bond (T1-First Stage, 3rd-Second Stage), Thomas Pieters (2nd-First Stage, T5-Second Stage), and Zane Scotland (T2-First Stage, T12-Second Stage).  Scotland has also won five out of the seven events he's played this season on the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Tour and leads the Order of Merit on that Tour.    

While I wish every player the best, here's my list of the 25 players I'd like to see get their cards (no particular order):

1. Nick Dougherty
2. Mathias Grönberg
3. Markus Brier
4. Phillip Price
5. Daniel Popovic
6. Peter Hedblom
7. Rikard Karlberg
8. Liam Bond
9. Gareth Wright
10. Scott Drummond
11. Stiggy Hodgson
12. Simon Wakefield
13. Ben Evans
14. Oliver Wilson
15. Phillip Archer
16. Bradley Dredge
17. Richard Finch
18. Michael Jonzon
19. Rhys Davies
20. Andrew Marshall
21. Kenneth Ferrie
22. Pablo Martin Benavides
23. David Higgins
24. Alastair Forsyth
25. Zane Scotland

Bench:

1. Ross McGowan
2. Chris Paisley
3. Oskar Henningsson
4. Thomas Pieters
5. Kevin Phelan
6. Scott Arnold
7. Damian Ulrich
8. Guillaume Cambis
9. Daniel Brooks
10. Neil Fenwick
11. Matthew Zions
12. James Morrison
13. Ondrej Lieser
14. Adam Gee
15. Andrew MacArthur
16. Raymond Russell
17. Michael Lorenzo-Vera
18. Maarten Lafeber
19. Mikko Korhonen
20. Andrew McLardy
21. Jean-François Lucqin
22. Andreas Hartø
23. Martin Wiegele
24. Johan Edfors
25. David Dixon

For those that make the cut at Q-School, but don't gain a card, there's still consolation as they will get a high Challenge Tour category which enables them to play most, if not all, of the events on the developmental circuit next season.

For those that miss the 72-hole cut, they will gain a Challenge Tour category that will enable them to play some tournaments on the second-tier Tour next season (if they had lesser status last season).

Good luck to the 156 players and let's see what highlights and stories this year's Final Stage of Q-School produces!