Guiney in the zone

John-Daniel Guiney produced an exceptional finish to four days of gruelling golf at Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire to move into the second stage of qualification for a European Tour card.

The Ballybunion man appeared to be in a hopeless position after rounds of 73 and 72 earlier in the week but he roared into top gear with a stunning eagle three on the second and also had birdies on 4,11 and 12 to return 67 on Thursday and 69 yesterday for an aggregate of 281 — seven under par.

That put him in joint sixth place, only five strokes behind joint winners Welshman Liam Bond and England’s Laurie Canter.

He was five strokes inside the cut-off point and can now look forward to heading to Spain next month for the second stage.

But it was a very different story for the Irish in France as Muskerry’s Niall Turner, slumped to a 77 for a 286, two strokes outside the cut-off point and 14 behind winner Wes Homan Jnr of the US.

Limerick’s Tim Rice was well down the field in joint 56th place.