Hurley scales Alps Tour heights; Scott ends 1,386-day drought
Gary Hurley
Gary Hurley ended a difficult year on a high when he produced a hot finish to grab his Alps Tour card at the weather-reduced Qualifying School in Spain.
Just nine weeks after undergoing foot surgery, the former Walker Cup star (26) birdied three of his last six holes to tie for 15th on three-under at La Cala Resort.
The 54-hole quest to finish in the top 35 and ties was reduced to just 36 holes after heavy rain forced officials to suspended play on Friday and Saturday.
But after slipping back to one-over-par for the tournament with just six holes to play, Hurley birdied the 13th, 15th and 17th to card a one-under 71 on the America Course and earn Category 6 membership of the Alps Tour for 2020.
It's a positive result for the West Waterford man, who missed six of seven cuts on the Challenge Tour this year and had surgery on the third metatarsal bone in his foot just nine weeks ago.
“It feels great to be honest considering just over two months ago I was on the operating table,” a delighted Hurley said.
“It was a difficult, stop/start week with the delays but was nice to finish strong to make it in. “Things are starting to move in the right direction for me again which is brilliant.”England's Bradley Bawden topped the leaderboard by a shot on nine-under from Portugal's Tomas Bessa Guimaraes as 41 players claimed full cards on level par 143.
They included Northern Ireland's Peter Dallat, who tied for 20th on two-over after a 73 on the Asia Course, and Damian Murphy, who made it on the level par 143 mark, also carding a one-over 73 yesterday.
Galway's Ronan Mullarney (72-74) and Ulsterman Michael Dallat (70-76) tied for 69th on three over and like Simon Bryan (73-76), who was joint 90th six-over, they earned Category 9 status for the 2020 season, which begins with two events in Egypt in February.
Adam Scott with the Australian PGA Championship trophy
On the European Tour, Adam Scott (39) gave his confidence a boost when he claimed his second Australian PGA Championship triumph in Queensland and his 11th European Tour title and his first win for 1,386 days.
The 2013 Masters Tournament champion hadn't won since he claimed back to back successes in the Honda Classic and the WGC - Cadillac Championship on the PGA Tour in 2016.
Leading by a shot overnight, Scott crucially eagled the 15th at RACV Royal Pines Resort for the third time in four days, carding a three-under 69 to win by two strokes on 13-under par from New Zealander Michael Hendry, who bogeyed the last two holes.
"I'm pretty stoked, actually," said Scott, who moves up five places to 13th in the world rankings. "It's been a long time between drinks for me and maybe only once or twice did the thought cross my mind that I'll never win again.
"I've seen what it's done for me in the past; a win. You feel like you're just never going to lose again, so you want to run with that while the confidence is up.
