Gary Hurley and Kevin Phelan move step closer to winning tour card

Gary Hurley and Kevin Phelan safely negotiated the minefield that is stage two of the European Tour qualifying to comfortably secure their places in the final qualifying which starts at PGA Catalunya near Girona in northern Spain on Saturday.

Hurley, a member of last year’s winning Walker Cup team, posted a final round 70 for a 278 total, which gave him tied-seventh place in the stage two qualifier at Las Colinas in Alicante, Spain, while Phelan signed for a 69 for 279 and a share of ninth place. Eighteen places were available.

Both Hurley and Phelan will join Michael Hoey – who lost his full tour card – in the six-round final qualifying, where 25 cards for the main tour will be on offer.

However, there was heartbreak for Ruaidhri McGee, who lost out in an eight-way play-off for four places at Lumine. The Derryman shot a 69 for 278 at Lumine for a share of 15th place before losing out in the play-off.

Cormac Sharvin, another member  of last year’s Walker Cup team, also narrowly missed out. The Co Down man shot a 71 for 285, which left him in tied-18th at El Saler, where there were 17 places available. Niall Kearney finished with a 73 for 286 for tied-24th, missing out by two strokes.