Justin Rose has earned some money at last. After missing the cut in his first 20 professional tournaments, Rose finally completed four rounds at last week's Austrian Open. Rose carded rounds of 64, 71, 67 and 65 to finish on 13 under par, four shots behind play-off winner Juan Ciola (Switzerland), and Elliot Bout (New Zealand). Rose earned £2,955 for his fourth place finish and jumped straight into the top-50 in the Challenge Tour rankings.

Gordon Sherry, another great hope of British golf who has struggled in the paid ranks, also had his best finish of the season. He tied for 24th but has won just £1,162 in seven tournaments. The Irish are also faring badly on this tour, with David Higgins 98th, Gary Murphy 100th, Francis Howley 131st and Peter Lawrie, who is mainly playing in Asia, ranked 177. The top 15 at the end of the season can bypass the qualifying school and go straight to the main tour next year.