Kearney keeps Asian Tour card hopes alive with 66 as Paul Dunne bows out
Japan’s Takumi Murakami. Picture: Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour
Niall Kearney carded a sensational bogey-free 66 to make the final round battle for 35 cards at the Asian Tour Q-School as Paul Dunne crashed out in Thailand.
Only the top 70 and ties survived the 72-hole cut after four pressure packed rounds at Lake View Resort and Golf Club in Hua Hin.
But while Royal Dublin’s Kearney (36) made the four-under par cut on the limit as he made an eagle and three birdies in a five-under 66, Dunne missed out by five shots after a disappointing four-over 75.
Like Kearney, the Greystones man (32) came through pre-qualifying last week.
But after following an opening 68 with two level par 71s to sit on the projected cut mark heading into today’s fourth round, he dropped four shots going out on the tougher C-D layout.
He needed a blistering back nine to make the final round shootout but followed his lone birdie of the day at the par-five 15th with a bogey at the 17th to miss the cut by five shots on one-over.
Three-time Irish PGA champion Kearney was one of 73 players to qualify for Saturday’s final round battle but he still has a lot to do to win his playing rights.
He’s four strokes outside the top 35 (there will be playoffs in the event of ties) who will be awarded cards.
On the plus side, he carded his fourth round 66 on the A-B layout that will host the final round.
The Dubliner got off to an ideal start with birdies at the first and second, then eagled the par-five fifth before following a crucial birdie at the par-four 16th with two solid closing pars.
Japan’s Takumi Murakami (25) leads by two strokes on 19-under par after carding a remarkable 66 on the C and D nines at Lake View today.
Starting on the D nine, he turned in one-over 37 but came home in seven under 28 to lead two strokes from overnight leader Kyungnam Kang from Korea, who shot 70.
“Well, my putting was really good,” Murakami said. “The first half didn’t flow very well but the second half was amazing.
"On the first hole of the back nine I got a birdie, and the flow of my putting kept getting better and better, and in the end, I got a big score.”
Japan’s Yosuke Asaji (67) and Taiki Yoshida (69), and Korea’s Doyeob Mun (67) are share third place on 15-under with Australian Jack Thompson (69) a shot further back alongside compatriot Lawry Flynn (68) on 14-under.
Players who finish outside the top 35 will get to play Asian Development Tour (ADT) events next year, based on their ranking after this week.
Scores after round 4 of the 2025 Asian Tour Qualifying School-Final Stage (am - denotes amateur):
265 - Takumi Murakami (JPN) 69-65-66-65.
267 - Kyungnam Kang (KOR) 63-69-65-70.
269 - Yosuke Asaji (JPN) 67-68-67-67, Taiki Yoshida (JPN) 66-67-67-69, Doyeob Mun (KOR) 65-67-70-67.
270 - Jack Thompson (AUS) 65-66-70-69, Lawry Flynn (AUS) 71-66-65-68.
271 - Bai Zhengkai (CHN) 69-68-66-68.
272 - Christopher Hickman (USA) 67-68-65-72, Ajeetesh Sandhu (IND) 63-70-68-71, Pawin Ingkhapradit (THA) 71-71-68-62.
273 - Darcy Brereton (AUS) 67-68-73-65, Sean Ramos (PHI) 64-71-68-70, Xiao Bowen (CHN) 71-69-68-65, Changwoo Lee (KOR) 72-70-67-64, Joel Stalter (FRA) 70-67-67-69, Ekpharit Wu (THA) 68-70-70-65, Ervin Chang (MAS) 67-69-69-68.
274 - Jakkanat Inmee (THA) 71-70-65-68, Eduard Rousaud (ESP) 69-69-69-67, George Kneiser (USA) 68-70-66-70, Wu Ashun (CHN) 69-68-72-65.
275 - Flint Bekkers (USA) 65-71-70-69, Settee Prakongvech (THA) 68-68-68-71, Denzel Ieremia (NZL) 68-67-69-71, Ngai Si (MAC) 71-69-68-67, Manav Shah (USA) 66-67-72-70, Todd Sinnott (AUS) 71-71-66-67, Michele Ortolani (ITA) 67-71-68-69, Taiga Sugihara (JPN) 67-70-68-70, Yin-ho Yue (HKG) 72-69-66-68.
276 - Yu Sung-po (TPE) 67-72-72-65, Julien Sale (FRA) 68-67-73-68, Roberto Lebrija (MEX) 71-69-66-70, Yusaku Hosono (JPN) 68-70-67-71, Brett Rankin (AUS) 67-70-68-71, Yuki Shino (JPN) 69-72-69-66.
Provisional Top 35
277 - Jordan Zunic (AUS) 69-71-67-70, Minjun Kim (KOR) 69-71-68-69, Liu Yanwei (CHN) 68-70-67-72, Pep Angles (ESP) 71-67-68-71, Miguel Carballo (ARG) 65-73-71-68, Dominic Foos (GER) 67-71-72-67, She Zihan (CHN) 70-69-69-69, Leon D'Souza (HKG) 70-67-68-72.
278 - Sam Broadhurst (ENG) 68-73-70-67, Georges Stal (FRA) 71-65-73-69, Minhyuk Song (KOR) 71-68-70-69, Austin Rose (USA) 72-68-69-69, Will Florimo (AUS) 70-64-75-69, Taehoon Ok (KOR) 71-73-67-67, Tyson Reeder (USA) 72-71-64-71, Wang Wei-hsuan (TPE) 67-70-72-69.
279 - Jaemin Park (am, KOR) 69-70-70-70, Nicklaus Chiam (SIN) 72-67-69-71, Newport Laparojkit (THA) 73-71-69-66, Yujun Jung (KOR) 70-70-74-65, Robert Foley (SUI) 70-70-71-68, Su Ching-hung (TPE) 68-70-71-70, Charles Porter (USA) 70-68-67-74, Niklas Regner (AUT) 65-72-67-75, David Drysdale (SCO) 70-72-67-70.
280 - Zhou Yanhan (CHN) 69-75-71-65, Christian Nido (PUR) 70-70-70-70, Niall Kearney (IRL) 71-73-70-66, Suradit Yongcharoenchai (THA) 71-71-68-70, Minwook Gwon (KOR) 71-67-71-71, Yikeun Chang (KOR) 72-71-68-69, Nirun Sae-ueng (THA) 71-71-70-68, Carl Jano Corpus (PHI) 67-72-70-71, Koh Dengshan (SIN) 70-71-72-67, Charng-Tai Sudsom (THA) 70-69-71-70, Luis Carrera (MEX) 69-67-72-72.
CUT
281 - Keita Okada (am, JPN) 68-71-70-72, Filip Lundell (SWE) 71-69-74-67, Andrew Campbell (AUS) 71-70-71-69, Karandeep Kochhar (IND) 67-73-69-72, Jordan Wrisdale (ENG) 71-69-72-69, Agustin Errazuriz (CHI) 67-73-70-71, Cameron Sisk (USA) 73-69-72-67, Sunkyu Baek (USA) 67-71-71-72, Arjun Sharma (IND) 73-70-70-68, Sarut Vongchaisit (THA) 69-70-71-71, Marcus Fraser (AUS) 68-69-72-72, Ben Jones (ENG) 71-71-69-70, James Leow (SIN) 70-69-72-70, Alejandro Canizares (ESP) 72-67-72-70.
282 - Carson Enright (USA) 70-73-71-68, Lu Sun-yi (TPE) 72-72-69-69, Shotaro Ban (USA) 73-67-72-70, Santiago De la Fuente (MEX) 71-70-71-70, Siddikur Rahman (BAN) 68-66-76-72, S. Chikkarangappa (IND) 73-71-71-67, William Harrold (ENG) 71-71-70-70, Matloob Ahmad (PAK) 72-70-71-69, Amir Nazrin (MAS) 73-70-72-67, Taisei Shimizu (JPN) 71-72-70-69, Rashid Khan (IND) 71-71-74-66, Pukhraj Singh Gill (IND) 68-75-71-68, Berry Henson (USA) 68-75-68-71.
283 - Hamza Amin (PAK) 71-70-72-70, Othman Raouzi (MOR) 72-69-73-69, Isaac Lam (HKG) 76-68-70-69, Zhang Xinjun (CHN) 73-68-70-72, Taiko Nishiyama (JPN) 69-71-69-74, Aryan Roopa Anand (IND) 69-71-69-74, Gregory Foo (SIN) 71-66-73-73, Marc Warren (SCO) 71-72-68-72, Aidric Chan (PHI) 70-69-71-73.
284 - Adam Guedra (SWE) 73-68-73-70, Jason Knutzon (USA) 69-71-71-73, Trevor Simsby (USA) 70-74-69-71, Tao Deng (CHN) 74-68-74-68, Ryusei Yokota (JPN) 73-70-73-68, Ollie Roberts (SCO) 73-70-70-71, Jasper Stubbs (AUS) 71-71-72-70, Junsub Park (KOR) 70-73-70-71.
285 - Khemkhon Limbhasut (THA) 67-76-71-71, Ivan Ramirez (COL) 69-72-72-72, Tyler Wood (NZL) 68-73-74-70, Paul Dunne (IRL) 68-71-71-75, Daniel Hudson (USA) 72-71-72-70.
286 - Jonghark Kim (KOR) 74-70-70-72, Zachary Portemont (USA) 71-69-73-73, Ryoto Furuya (USA) 71-71-70-74, Nopparat Panichphol (THA) 73-66-72-75.
287 - Hunter Logan (USA) 70-74-74-69, Kasper Nyland (DEN) 70-71-73-73, Rafael Becker (BRA) 71-73-72-71, Lu Wei-chih (TPE) 70-74-72-71, Kuangyu Chen (am, AUS) 69-73-71-74, Shahriffuddin Ariffin (MAS) 68-74-75-70, Patrick Newcomb (USA) 70-72-71-74.
288 - Sven Maurits (NED) 69-72-74-73, Moojin Cho (KOR) 73-71-74-70.
291 - Anshul Kabthiyal (IND) 72-70-73-76.
292 - Luca Cianchetti (ITA) 73-69-75-75.
294 - Naoki Sekito (JPN) 71-71-75-77.
301 - Alexander Bishop (USA) 72-69-80-80.
