Stewart Ginn showed the class that made him a Senior Major winner by sweeping to a four stroke victory in the European Seniors Tour Qualifying School Finals at Pestana Golf Resort on the Algarve.
The Australian dropped just four shots in 72 holes at the par 71 Pinta Course, closing with a 68 for a total of ten under par 274. The victory earned Ginn a full card to the 2006 European Seniors Tour.
“My target this week was to shoot eight under, as I thought that would be enough to finish in the top six, but as it turned out I went a little better. I am delighted because this means I can finish my playing career in Europe, which is something I have always wanted to do,” said the 56 year old, who three years ago won the Ford Seniors Players’ Championship on the US Champions Tour.
American Kurt Cox and South Africans Bobby Lincoln and Bertus Smit tied for second place on six under par 278 and will also enjoy full playing privileges next year. Smit won the play-off for the second card, with Cox and Lincoln taking the third and fourth.
England’s Stephen Chadwick and Rigoberto Velasquez of Columbia, who both finished on five under par, earned the remaining two full cards, but as Velasquez is not 50 until September, Chile’s Angel Fernandez will take his place on the Tour until then.
Fernandez also finished on five under but took the reserve position after making bogey at the first play-off hole, the second. The Chilean found sand off the tee, which forced him to lay up and he could do no better than a five.
The match moved on to the first where Velasquez three-putted and Chadwick took the honours, and the fifth card, with a par four.
The 11 other conditional cards were decided by a series of play-offs and went, in ranking order, to: Bob Larratt of England; Northern Ireland’s Jimmy Heggarty; Argentine Adan Sowa; Robin Mann of England; American Doug Johnson; Glenn Ralph of England; John Benda of the United States; Ireland’s John Curtis; Swede Anders Johnsson; Mike Williams of South Africa; and England’s Brian Evans.
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