Simon Thornton Gains In Re-Rank

European Tour Rookie Simon Thornton received good news today following the first re-rank of the season when he moved up 10 places in Category 11 to hold 18th place. The former Royal County Down Assistant Professional had been hoping to do even better and already had the re-rank in his sights when he committed to the Madeira Islands  Open BPI  - Portugal, the weekend his first child was due.

Last weekend’s event in Mallorca though was the final chance for those players who earned their cards at the 2009 Qualifying School, or through finishing 11th to 20th in the Challenge Tour Rankings, to improve their ranking, with the second opportunity coming in August.

Having started his first season on the Tour in difficult personal circumstances - given the untimely passing of his Father in January - Thornton stuck to his schedule and played the Africa Open ahead of the funeral - as he had agreed with his Father. Understandably Thornton missed the cut.

Having flown home for the funeral he then returned to make the cut at the Jo’Burg Open with a 17th place finish. In the subsequent two events, the Open de Andalucia and in Madeira Islands he also made the cut garnering valuable pay cheques in both. However at the Open de España in Seville, Thornton had a poor second round missing his first cut in months.

He then travelled to a very rainy Turin for the BMW Italian Open only to suffer the same fate after two poor rounds.

On arriving in Mallorca last weekend Thornton was looking for a timely reversal to his fortunes only to be forced to withdraw midway through the first round due to a back injury - which intense physio therapy could not improve.

For Gary Murphy though the bad news continues who battled hard last week by leading the Irish challengers in Mallorca – even reaching 3rd place on day 1 – to suffer a major setback with a nightmare collapse on Friday afternoon after carding a 79 to miss his 11th cut of the season.

Having qualified in 17th place at “Q School” he now drops to 28th place and moves in the reverse direction to Thornton as he was outside the top 20 money earners in Category 11.

The real story though is Alejandro Cañizares of Spain who topped the first Re-Rank of 2010 after the Iberdrola Open Cala Millor Mallorca - which he lost on a play off – with €280,000 in prize money, mostly of which was the result of a second place finish at the Open de España.  

The first event to be affected by the re-rank will next week’s Madrid Masters.   

Moriarty Best of Irish in Mallorca

Having traded the Challenge Tour this week for the main Tour Colm Moriarty of Team Ireland finished the final day with a one under par 69 at the Iberdrola Open Cala Millor Mallorca to earn a share of 32nd place and was the best of three Irish players who made the cut for the weekend at Pula Golf Club.

Although his final tally of 7 over was well of the pace Moriarty can draw satisfaction from this week having missed the cut on his last outing on the European Tour in the Madeira Islands Open BPI – Portugal last April. Moriarty played the front nine in level par mixing two birdies with two bogeys and then went two shots better to finish the back leg in 34 after a birdie on 17.

Alejandro Canizares shot a four under par round to match Sweden's Peter Hanson earning a play off which the Swede went on to win.

Peter Hanson has now added to his European Tour wins having won the SAS Masters at Arlandastad Golf in Stockholm in 2008

The early tournament leader James Kingston dropped to 2 under after a 1 under par final round to card an aggregate of 278 and finish 3rd in a tie with Pelle Edberg of Sweden who was 3 over for the final day having started out the morning in a share of the lead.

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano battled through the day but a double bogey on 16th added to his problems and finished 4 over for the day on 1 under for the tournament.

Damien McGrane also completed the final day in one under par for a 7 over total after making the turn in 36 shots. Two birdies on 14 and 17 gave him his best round of the week.

Paul McGinley, still struggling to find form after his knee operation, dropped two shots through the first 4 holes then picked up a birdie on 7 only to drop another shot reaching halfway in 38. On the back nine he traded two early birdies on 11 and 12 with bogeys on 17 and 18 to end his round on three over on a total of 15 over.

Murphy Misses Out Again

 

James Kingston of South Africa finished level par in round two of the Iberdrola Open Cala Millor Mallorca to post 5 under at Pula Golf Club and a share of the lead with Pelle Edberg of Sweden who signed for a 5 under 65 earlier in the day. Two dropped shots by Kingston on holes 11 and 12 pushed the South African to 4 under with 5 holes to play. Then a birdie on 17 secured a share of the lead for the South African ahead of day three.

Having been the leading Irish player from Thursday Gary Murphy was on course through six holes on 3 under. Then a double bogey on the 8th hole pushed the Kilkenny man back to one over par with nine holes to play. Added misery of two dropped shots on the 11th, a triple bogey on the 12th, another double on 17 and then a dropped shot on the 18th added another missed cut for Murphy as he finished on 7 over - one shot beyond the projected cut off mark.

Colm Moriarty, playing his second European Tour event this season, completed a level par round only dropping one shot on the fifth. The Glasson professional then carded a birdie on the 11th hole to finish with a 4 over total ands the chance to compete over the weekend.

Damien McGrane double bogeyed the 10th at the very start of the second round and then picked up a birdie immediately afterwards to make the turn in 36. A level par back nine could not improve on a 5 over total but was enough to remain one shot inside the projected cut.

Paul McGinley went around Pula in one over par with a double bogey on the 11th the biggest problem making the halfway mark in a 2 over par 37. The homeward leg of 34 came after two birdies and his 6 over was to prove enough, in the end, to earn a weekend stay as the cut extended to an aggregate of 146 shots.

Team Ireland Trio in France

Following on from Turkey three Team Ireland players make their way to Brittany in France this week to compete in the ALLIANZ Open Côtes d’Armor Bretagne on the European Challenge Tour. The Team Ireland trio includes Colm Moriarty, Gareth Shaw and Jonathan Caldwell all out to improve on last week’s tournament with Niall Kearney opting to take a break this week.

All four players made the cut at the Turkish Airlines Challenge with Colm Moriarty and Jonathan Caldwell finishing the best Irish players in a tie for 20th place, Shaw was 43rd and Niall Kearney 69th.

The ALLIANZ Open Côtes d’Armor event in France is only the second outing for Gareth Shaw of Clandeboye Golf Club with Moriarty and Caldwell having played the European Tour event in Madeira in April, where both failed to make the cut at the Portuguese event.

Last year Lee James of England captured this title when he beat Germany’s Florian Fritsch in a play-off at the 6,442 yard, par 70 course.

Charlie Ford of England though is the man in form though having won his maiden Challenge Tour title last week at the Carya Golf Club when he saw off Oscar Florén of Sweden in a play off at the first extra hole.

Past winners of the ALLIANZ Open Cotes d’Armor Bretagne include England’s Peter Baker, who won it 2007, and Sweden’s Joakim Haeggman in 2008.

The event runs from Thursday May 6th until Sunday 9th and has a total purse of €150,000