Seve Benson qualifies for the European Tour for the fourth time in his career
Seve Benson celebrated his 11th hour inclusion in the top-21 players in the European Challenge Tour Rankings, on Saturday, October 27, 2012.
These players will receive the full-time playing card for the 2013 European Tour season.
Benson entered the season-ending Apulia San Domenico Grand Final ranked 28th in the standings. Therefore, he desperately needed at least a top-10 finish in order to make it to the European Tour for the fourth time in his career.
He made a decent start to his campaign at the San Domenico Golf course, as he carded a three-under par 68 in the first round and followed that with a 69 on day two.
His start to the third round was remarkable, as he birdied each of the first four holes that he played. In total, he posted six birdies to his scorecard without conceding a single bogey for a six-under par 65.
Entering the final round, he was tied for the sixth position. After recording pars on the first seven holes, he bogeyed the eighth and the ninth hole.
It was really a disappointing start for the Englishman, who was playing so well right from the beginning of the tournament.
On the 11th hole, he recorded a sparkling eagle to move to an equal-par score for the round. Birdies on the 13th, 14th and the 16th hole allowed him to finish his campaign with a 14-under par tournament score.
At the end of the day, he found himself tied for the fifth spot on the leaderboard, which moved him to the 20th position in the Challenge Tour Rankings.
Therefore, Benson received the second last European Tour card that was on offer in Italy last week.
Talking to the Challenge Tour’s official website, he stated that he himself was shocked after he came to know about his position in the standings.
“I am just shocked actually,” said the Englishman. “I didn’t think I would get anywhere near to be honest. It is great news though. I am really happy. There are a few things I want to improve next year, looking back on this season”.
He added, “I want to put four rounds together. I did that this week and a couple of times this season, and when I do that, I think I get the results”.
“This is certainly somewhere I can start from for next year and get results early on, and I'm looking forward to it”.
Justin Walters was another player who celebrated his inclusion in the top-21 in the rankings at the end of the tournament.
He shared the fifth position with Benson and moved from the 23rd position to the 15th spot in the rankings.
The biggest story of the day was James Busby moving from the 45th place to the 16th position in the standings. He was the last player to qualify for the tournament last week.
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