Archer stays on target in qualifiers

PHILIP ARCHER continued to play the best golf of his life at the European tour qualifying school at Emporda in Spain yesterday.

Already two ahead after four of the six rounds, the 30-year-old went to the turn in 29 for the first time in his career and with 18 holes to go is now four clear.

Gary Murphy is also moving along nicely and his 338 total leaves him comfortably placed going into the final round. Damien McGrane is also in the top half of the field and stands on a 345 total.

Archer has failed on seven of his previous eight visits to the school, but he started seeing psychologist Karl Morris this year and it appears to be working wonders.

‘‘It is all really sorted out in the head,’’ he said after a 65 moved him onto the hugely impressive 27 under par total of 330 at an event which tests mental strength like few others.

‘‘My main error in the past was not being able to take a bad shot out of the mind. That’s what we have been working on, from the putting outwards - just not looking ahead and not looking back really.’’

Archer’s confidence started going through the roof in August. In a series of pro-am events in the north of England he won six times and was an astonishing 96 under par for the month.

If he repeats that on the European tour he is now certain to be part of next season and will quickly become very rich.

Sweden’s Per Nyman is his nearest challenger on 23 under, while Norfolk’s Andrew Marshall lies third and Luton’s Phil Golding fourth.

It is make-or-break time now, however, for former tour winners Paul Broadhurst, Mark Mouland, Russell Claydon and Stuart Cage.

Only the top 35 and ties are receive tour cards at the end of the marathon and Broadhurst lies 36th, Mouland 41st and Claydon and Cage joint 50th. But they are all separated by only two strokes.

Broadhurst, a member of the 1991 Ryder Cup team who last year was back at the school for the first time since 1988 and missed out by eight strokes, moved up 29 places with his 67.

But Claydon, on his 37th birthday, dropped down 14 with a level-par 71.

The only highlight for the Cambridge heavyweight, winner of the BMW International four years ago, was holing a nine-iron for an eagle two on the 398-yard 10th - a feat later repeated by Nyman.

Claydon probably needs a closing 66 to survive and said: ‘‘It would be nice to be at home with the kids for my birthday, but I’m getting used to this now.’’

This is the third year in a row he has been at the school. He failed in 2000 but made it through with four shots to spare last November.

‘‘I don’t feel I’m that much different a player to when I was doing well (he has earned nearly €2.65m), but for whatever reason I don’t score as low.

‘‘There are so many more good players now.”