No luck for Irish
By Brian Keogh
Irish duo Colm Moriarty and Stephen Browne have vowed to bounce back after their tour dreams were smashed at the Q-School Finals in Spain.
Moriarty hit one under par 71 but missed his card by three shots after a crucial double bogey on his 13th at brutal San Roque.
And it was a similar story for Browne, who was just three shots outside the magical top 30 with seven to play when he took a sickening double bogey six at his 12th in a 75.
As Austria's Martin Wiegele to the top card on 11 under par, Ireland's hopes are convinced that they will learn from this reverse.
Ranked 41st on level par, Moriarty said: "I have to take the positives from the year, look at my statistics and see where I need to improve.
"It has been a pretty good year but it is a huge disappointment not to get my card.”
Moriarty’s hopes evaporated on the par three fourth, his 13th, where he overshot the green and ran up a double bogey five.
He said: "When you miss by three shots over six rounds it is frustrating. But you have got to take it on the chin and look where you need to improve for next year."
Browne was always in trouble after crashing to five over par after two rounds of the six round marathon before breaking par on each of the next three days.
He revealed that his favourite two-ball putter was lost at the Grand Final in Italy two weeks ago and did not arrive until Saturday.
And while it remained stone cold all week, he was pleased to battle his way back into the mix at level par with seven holes to play before bad luck wrecked his charge.
He said: "I can't fault my golf. I just never got going. I didn't play great early in the week but the last four rounds I played quite nicely.
"The putter was really cold. But I only got my favourite putter back after the second round. The putter I have been using all year went missing at the Grand Final in Italy.
"They must have had it in the deep freeze over there because it was pretty cold after I got it back on Saturday. I had a similar Callaway two-ball but it was an inch shorter than my own and the Callaway trucks isn't here this week."
After a rollercoast front nine, it all went wrong for Browne on the 339-yard third on the New Course, where his downwind 86-yard pitch plugged in a downhill lie at the back of the bunker.
He failed to get out the first time and ran up a fatal six for a three over par 75 that left him six shots outside the qualifying mark on three over par.
Yet he was still upbeat about his future in the game and hopes he gets a break that could make the difference.
Ranked 51st, Browne said: "I didn't really hole any putts and never got going. But I have played really solid golf and have done for the last two months. So I am very hopeful and confident for the future. More than hopeful to be honest.
"The game is there and I just need one decent week or one decent break and things will be a lot different.”
Former Irish Open champion Patrik Sjoland grabbed his card on the three under par mark after holing out from 137 yards for an eagle at the par-five seventh, his 16th.
Germany’s Marcel Siem also made it on the mark, just 12 months after winning the World Cup with Bernhard Langer.