Matthew Southgate storms into contention at the European Tour’s Qualifying School Final Stage
Matthew Southgate stormed into contention for the top spot at the European Tour’s Qualifying School Final Stage, after firing a four-under par 68, on Wednesday, November 28, 2012.
Going into the final round of the tournament, Southgate shared the second position, with a 13-under par overall score.
The event is being played at the PGA Catalunya Resort’s Lake Course and the Stadium Course, offering European Tour cards to the top-25 and ties, to finish the event.
Playing on the Stadium Course, he birdied only one of the first 11 holes that he played – he started off his round on the back nine of the course.
Thereafter, he picked up pace and added shots to his scorecard on the third, fifth, seventh and the eight hole, prior to finishing the round with a bogey on the final hole.
At the end of the day, he found himself settled four strokes behind the leader John Parry, who fired a six-under par 66 for a 17-under par overall score.
“I put myself under a lot of pressure in round one, but I’ve managed to relax a bit and realise that I’m actually quite lucky to be here, because I only got in as a reserve and have had a really bad season,” he said.
“Once I started enjoying it rather than feeling the pressure, I’ve been playing well. The game’s coming good at the right time. I’ve worked so hard on my putting this year”.
“I’m not holing everything, but I’m holing a few, which makes a massive difference at this level. ...It’s very promising and I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” he added.
The Englishman now plans to remain consistent in the final round, in a bid to put behind a disappointing season.
In his first eight starts on the European Tour this season, he made the cut in only one of them, prior to moving back to the Challenge Tour for the second half of the year.
Still, the luck did not turn in his favour, as the 24-year-old missed the cut in 7 of the 17 events that he played on the tier-two tour.
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