Back to School for Phelan
Kevin Phelan plays from a bunker on the 13th during round four of the ISPS HANDA Perth International at the Lake Karrinyup Country Club on Sunday 26th October 2014. Picture: Thos Caffrey / www.golffile.ie
Kevin Phelan will be back at the European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage next month after he came up nearly €61,000 short of keeping his card following the ISPS HANDA Perth International.
The former Walker Cup player from Waterford woud have needed at least a nine under par 63 to claim the solo fourth place finish he needed to make the Top-111 in the Race to Dubai who kept their full playing rights for 2015 to shot 72 to finish 35th.
Click here to download final Race to Dubai standings
The Final Series now begins with top ranked Rory McIlroy heading the Top-60 money winners who qualified for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship along with Shane Lowry (13th), Graeme McDowell (14th) and Michel Hoey (47th).
But Phelan must now join Peter Lawrie, Gareth Maybin and Simon Thornton at Q-School in Catalonia from November 15-20 with a host of other Irish players hoping to join them via the Second Stage, which takes place at for Spanish venues from November 7-10.
Playing in his rookie season, Phelan gave himself a chance to save his card when he came third in the Hong Kong Open last week.
But he never got on a run at Lake Karrinyup and in windy final round conditions he could only manage a level par 72 alongside Damien McGrane (73), finishing tied for 35th on three under with the Meath man a shot further back in 40th.
Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen closed with a 71 to claim his second European Tour title and a three shot victory over Victor Dubuisson.
The 24 year old, whose previous win came in Sicily two years ago, started the day three clear but saw that advantage reduced to one after a jittery start to the back nine.
But with Dubuisson setting the clubhouse mark at 14 under par, Olesen responded with birdies at the 13th and 15th to restore his advantage and claim the €198,300 prize with a 17 under par total.
As for thoses chasing a place in the top 111 on The Race to Dubai to earn a card for next season, there were the usual tales of joy and heartbreak.
The likes of Sihwan Kim and Peter Whiteford had threatened to produce heroics earlier in the week, but Korea’s Kim paid a hefty price for a triple bogey at the eighth and a closing 75 saw him fall short of the runner-up finish required in a tie for ninth.
Similarly halfway leader Whiteford, who also needed to be in the top two, endured a difficult weekend with rounds of 75 and 78 to fall short.
In the end England’s Lee Slattery, who missed the cut on Friday, suffered the greatest heartache as he slipped two places to 112th.
Compatriot Matthew Nixon had started the week in the firing line at 111th, but was rewarded for a 12th made cut in 15 events by climbing to 110th, with Anthony Wall taking the final spot.
Scotland’s David Drysdale produced courageous 30 foot birdie at the last to move into a tie for fourth and climb from 116th to 103rd, but Italy’s Andrea Pavan made a gut-wrenching double bogey on the 18th which cost last year’s challenge Tour Number One his card.
“I am still shaking from that putt on the last," Drysdale said. "Not the best of days as struggled a bit but standing in the fairway on the last with 202 yards into the wind and a three iron in my hand thinking I had to get up and down to have a chance….especially with Pavan, with his name on the board, Kim and Matthew Nixon.
"To see that putt drop on the last was unbelievable. I came here thinking I had to finish seventh to keep my card so delighted.”
Irish positions in the Race to Dubai after ISPS HANDA Perth International
Pos (Last week) Events Money *Exempt
- 1 (1) 14 Rory McIlroy €5,400,699.68
- 13 (12) 23 Shane Lowry €1,324,168.99
- 14 (14) 12 Graeme McDowell €1,262,243.86
- 47 (46) 27 Michael Hoey €561,805.46
- 96 (94) 32 Damien McGrane €278,941.67
- 98 (96) 13 Pádraig Harrington €263,640.87
- 124 (122) 25 Gareth Maybin €191,431.52
- 130 (130) 26 Kevin Phelan €174,382.43
- 135 (133) 14 *Darren Clarke €159,370.39
- 147 (147) 28 Simon Thornton €129,063.87
- 170 (171) 12 *Paul McGinley €68,893.86
- 176 (174) 30 Peter Lawrie €56,039.59
- 201 (201) 19 David Higgins €35,362.13
- 248 (249) 4 Ruaidhri McGee €9,500.00
- 298 (299) 2 Gareth Shaw €1,546.88
FINAL SCORES
271 T Olesen (Den) 64 69 67 71,
274 V Dubuisson (Fra) 71 67 70 66,
276 M Foster (Eng) 67 73 67 69,
277 M Griffin (Aus) 67 73 70 67, L Bjerregaard (Den) 71 70 66 70, J Morrison (Eng) 72 63 69 73, D Drysdale (Sco) 67 68 71 71, S Dartnall (Aus) 68 71 68 70,
278 R Green (Aus) 68 68 70 72, R Fox (Nzl) 69 70 72 67, P Uihlein (USA) 69 71 65 73, W Ormsby (Aus) 72 68 72 66, S Kim (Kor) 66 68 69 75, A Pavan (Ita) 71 70 67 70,
279 M Korhonen (Fin) 71 70 67 71, J Scrivener (Aus) 67 74 70 68, C Schwartzel (RSA) 68 69 70 72, M Fraser (Aus) 68 70 71 70,
280 N Green (Aus) 71 71 66 72, B Rumford (Aus) 67 72 73 68,
281 R Bland (Eng) 68 72 70 71, J Hansen (Den) 71 68 69 73,
282 J Norris (Aus) 71 69 68 74, J Dufner (USA) 70 70 69 73, G Stal (Fra) 69 71 67 75, N Gillespie (Nzl) 71 71 67 73, M Nixon (Eng) 70 71 69 72,
283 P O'Malley (Aus) 72 69 70 72, G Bourdy (Fra) 69 72 71 71,
284 G Chalmers (Aus) 70 73 69 72, J McLeary (Sco) 70 71 69 74, J Nitties (Aus) 69 69 72 74, R Gibson (Aus) 70 70 70 74, C Del Moral (Esp) 71 72 69 72,
285 R Haller (Aus) 71 69 74 71, K Phelan (Irl) 72 69 72 72, M Carlsson (Swe) 67 76 69 73, P Whiteford (Sco) 66 66 75 78, A Brown (Aus) 68 75 72 70,
286 J Heath (Eng) 72 71 70 73, R Gonzalez (Arg) 68 74 72 72, S Hansen (Den) 72 71 71 72, D McKenzie (Aus) 70 70 74 72, S Manley (Wal) 73 68 72 73, B Ninyette (Aus) 69 74 72 71, S Bowditch (Aus) 73 70 72 71, D McGrane (Irl) 70 70 73 73,
287 J Doherty (Sco) 69 72 72 74, S Wakefield (Eng) 72 67 75 73, J Quesne (Fra) 67 73 72 75, S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 71 74 73, P Spargo (Aus) 70 70 74 73,
288 C Lee (Sco) 73 69 75 71, J Parry (Eng) 69 72 73 74, J Wade (Aus) 64 72 75 77, N Elvira (Esp) 71 71 74 72, R Kakko (Fin) 72 71 74 71,
289 S Jeffress (Aus) 74 69 69 77, D Bransdon (Aus) 69 72 73 75, J Younger (Aus) 69 70 74 76, C Rice (Aus) 68 72 70 79, O Goss (Aus) 68 74 75 72,
290 D Huizing (Ned) 68 73 73 76, T Lewis (Eng) 66 74 76 74,
291 M Long (Nzl) 69 74 73 75, M Sim (Aus) 66 77 74 74,
292 D Nisbet (Aus) 71 72 74 75, N Holman (Aus) 73 68 75 76,
295 S Jamieson (Sco) 69 74 71 81.
