Kearney cut at Asian Tour Q-School
Niall Kearney
Niall Kearney suffered bitter disappointment at the Final Stage of the Asian Tour Qualifying School in Thailand when he missed the 36-hole cut by one stroke.
The Royal Dublin man (30) was tied for 67th after he carded a one-under 70 in Wednesday's first round on the AB Course at the Lakeview Resort and Golf Club in Hua Hin.
A late triple bogey there put him under pressure heading in Thursday's second round at the tougher CD layout where he shot a three-over 74 to finish on two-over par and one shot shy of survival.
It was a major disappointment for Kearney, who got off to a poor start and bogeyed the second, third and seventh holes to turn in three-over 38.
He needed a good back nine, not just to get back into the race to finish inside the top 35 and ties after five rounds, but to make the top 140 who would survive the cut.
But bogeys at the 11th and 12th proved costly, and while he birdied the par-five 15th and 17th holes, he ended up a shot outside the mark on two-over.
Thailand’s Poom Pattaropong added a seven-under-par 64 on the AB Course to his opening 67 to lead by one stroke on 11-under par from Sweden’s Christoffer Baumann, Singapore’s Choo Tze Huang and Australia’s Zach Murray.
The 148 players who progressed on one-over 143 or better will play two more rounds before the leading 70 and ties after a 72-hole cut contest Sunday's fifth and final round at the Lakeview Resort and Golf Club.
At the conclusion of 90 holes, the leading 35 players and ties will be ranked accordingly for the 2019 season.
