Daniel Gavins and Chris Hanson share lead at Qualifying School
Tuesday 17 November 2015 20:16, UK
English duo Daniel Gavins and Chris Hanson share the lead after four rounds of the European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage in Girona.
Gavins, Hanson and Jean Hugo lead the way on 14 under par in the gruelling six-round event, while European Tour stalwarts Eduardo Molinari, Maarten Lafeber and Ross McGowan were among those to make the cut after 72 holes.
Walker Cup star Paul Dunne, who shared the third-round lead at The Open in July, also comfortably made it through to the final two days and looks well placed to finish in the top 25 and earn a European Tour card.
Kenneth Ferrie, Peter Hedblom and Damien McGrane were the other notable former European Tour winners to advance, but Dunne's Walker Cup team-mates Ashley Chesters and Jimmy Mullen suffered an early exit along with the likes of three-time European Tour winners Nick Dougherty, Pablo Martin and Johan Edfors.
Hugo fired an impressive 67 on the tougher Stadium Course at PGA Catalunya on day four, and the 36-year-old, who has won 17 times on the Sunshine Tour, said: "I'm quite happy because I've played it very well so far. I'm looking forward to the next two rounds.
"If you bring a bit of form in here you can do well. I've never really done well at Q-School, but I maybe have a different mind-set to previous years I've tried. I've been playing very well at home so that helps.
Ryan Fox, the son of former All Blacks legend Grant, provided one of the stories of a tense day as he carded a six-under 64 on the Tour Course to climb inside the cut line after starting the round four shots outside.
"It was great out there today," he said. "I could sort of feel it coming, there were some signs the first three days and obviously the Tour Course is a bit easier than the Stadium Course. I managed to take advantage of that today and hang around for the next couple of days which is nice."
But while Fox moved in the right direction, his fellow New Zealander Mark Brown stumbled to a 76 to miss the cut by a single shot, while Swede Joel Sjoholm also crashed to level par after a 77.
