Rice 14th at TLA Q-School

Limerick's Tim Rice finished in the pack at the Tour de las Americas Qualifying School in Florida.

The former international closed with a one-under par 71 at Bonaventure Country Club to share 14th place in the 28-man field on eight under par.

Rice was five under par for his final round after ten holes but dropped four shots coming home to finish well adrift of runaway winner Estanislao Goya.

The Argentinian, 19, opened with a course record 61 and finished with a 70 to for a 21-under par total 267 and an eight-shot victory over Colombia's Juan Hoyos.

With this solid victory at Bonaventure’s 7,001-yard par-72, the Argentine was able to secure the best category available for the 2008 Tour de las Americas (TLA).

The 2008 TLA season starts on March 27 with four consecutive events. The first three are co-sanctioned with the European Challenge Tour: the Abierto del Centro in Cordoba, Argentina (March 27-30, US $200,000), the AAG’s 103rd Abierto de la República in Buenos Aires (April 3-6, US $200,000) and the second edition of the Club Colombia Masters in Bogota, Colombia (April 10-13, US $180,000).

Following those events the TLA will sanction the 82nd Abierto de Chile, which is organized by the Golf Federation of Chile (April 17-20, US $70,000).