Irish trio miss out on cards at European Challenge Tour

THE Irish trio of Stephen Browne, David Higgins and Michael Hoey will head for the European Tour Qualifying School Finals after missing out on their cards at the European Challenge Tour’s Bouygues Telecom grand final in Bordeaux, France, yesterday.

Higgins was the best placed of the trio on five under par 279, but trailed eventual winner David Drysdale of Scotland by eight shots on a day of drama in the south-west of France.

Drysdale produced the shot of his life to complete an astonishing comeback and win a sudden-death play-off with Sweden’s Mattias Eliasson, taking the 34,250 first prize he required to win his place on The 2005 European Tour via the Challenge Tour Rankings.

England’s Lee Slattery was crowned the 2004 Challenge Tour number one after his fifth-place finish saw him leapfrog Italy’s Alessandro Tadini at the top of the rankings. That completed a fairytale season for Slattery, having begun in South Africa and then on the EuroPro Tour before stepping up to the Challenge Tour and winning the rankings in just 13 appearances.

Browne and Hoey finished the tournament on two over and 10 over par respectively, but, along with Higgins, will get another chance to win their tour cards at the Qualifying School Finals at San Roque Club in southern Spain in just over a fortnight.