England’s Simon Khan survived a nervous final round to lead the group of 31 players who graduated from The European Tour Qualifying School on a final day of drama and emotion at PGA Catalunya Resort in Girona, Spain.
The 37 year old signed for a two over par closing round of 74 to finish the 108 hole Qualifying School on 20 under par, one stroke clear of rising starlet Sam Hutsby of England, who signed for a 69 to secure his first European Tour card.
Khan had started the day with a comfortable six stroke lead over Hutsby and appeared to be cruising towards victory when he birdied the third and fifth holes on the Stadium Course.
A dropped shot on the seventh pegged him back before a treble bogey seven on the ninth hole – which he had also double bogeyed in the fifth round – saw the gap suddenly close at the top of the leaderboard.
Khan bogeyed the next hole but recovered with consecutive birdies before dropping another shot on the 15th hole to sign for his only over par round of the week.
Meanwhile Hutsby made up ground with an eagle on the third hole – his fourth eagle in two rounds – and added a further five birdies to claim second place, with Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher dropping a shot on the last hole to finish third and Marco Ruiz of Paraguay carding a fine 65 for fourth.
For Khan the victory means a return to The European Tour next season, when he will look to add to his win in The Celtic Manor Wales Open in 2004.
“It was a tough day today,” said Khan, who has now graduated three times from the Qualifying School. “I was on the ball mentally at the start of the round, but made the mistake after five or six holes of thinking everything was going nicely, and maybe I got a bit complacent, which is the worst thing you can do. Golf can catch you out, and probably for the first time this week, I had a bad little spell.
“I was a bit disappointed with how I played in the end, but it’s been a long week and I was really starting to feel it.
“At the start of the week the aim was to finish in the top five, so I’ve exceeded my expectations, which feels good. But I know the hard work starts here. I’ve got to forget about this now, but obviously I’ll take a lot of confidence from it. Hopefully there’s more to come.”
Hutsby, who finished tied eighth in the CASTÉLLO MASTERS Costa Azahar on his last trip to Spain, has already targeted a European Tour victory after securing his card at the age of 21.
“The top 30 was always the goal so to think I was in a position to win it on the last few holes was fantastic,” he said. “Coming down the stretch was almost like a match play situation. I knew I had the card in the bag as long as I didn’t do anything stupid so I could relax a bit.
“I think it shows now after this week that my game is there and I’m capable of winning a major event. I’d love to win a European Tour event and hopefully that might be the case next year but first I’ve just got to try and find my feet on Tour and try and secure my card for the following year as well.”
Further down the leaderboard, there was a huge contrast in emotions as some players produced remarkable last ditch shots to defy the odds to secure their European Tour cards in category 11b for the 2010 season, whilst others suffered late heartache on the closing holes, with ten under par proving to be the cut off point.
Among those celebrating was Australian Rick Kulacz, who fired a stunning eight under par 64 to surge to his first European Tour card, holing a nerve defying 40ft putt on the last hole to squeeze into the card positions.
“For some reason I knew I was going to hole that putt on the last and it went in,” he said. “I think it was just meant to be today. The putts just went in.”
Similarly Scott Drummond, winner of the 2004 PGA Championship, chipped in from 25 yards on the 18th hole to move into the all-important top 30 and ties.
There was an equally dramatic finale from Frenchman Julien Guerrier, the Amateur Champion in 2006, who after an opening round 60 had looked like missing out at Qualifying School but holed a 10ft putt on the last hole to also scrape in with a closing round of 70.
He said: “There’s a lot of pressure here this week and for me it was a bonus. After the 60 it was difficult to turn the page because everyone congratulated me. That was an important last putt. It was the difference for me. I saw Tony Carolan have the same line as me and I tried to make the best putt I can do. I think I owe him a drink.”
On the flip side of the emotional spectrum, there was heartache for Welshman Liam Bond, who bogeyed his final two holes to miss out on a card by one stroke despite signing for a 68, while Frenchman Christophe Brazillier suffered the same fate after dropping a shot on the last hole.
England’s Sam Walker also came up short by the same amount after a bogey on the 18th hole, having birdied the previous three holes to move into the card positions.
Italian Alessandro Tadini missed out on a return to The European Tour when a double bogey seven on the 15th proved costly as he also finished on nine under par.
