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Aussies rule stage one of Q-school

Kiwi Richard Lee put on a polished performance to lead 79 other players into the Asian Tour Qualifying School Finals following the conclusion of Stage One today.

Lee fired an eight-under-par 64 at Tanjong Puteri Golf and Country Club's Course C and his four-day total of 23-under-par 265 was the lowest amongst the medallists across four venues used for Stage One.

Former European Tour regular Matthew Cort of England and Scotsman Euan Little, a two-time winner on the European Challenge Tour, were amongst the qualifiers from Course C.

Australians ruled the fairways in the other three venues. At Tanjong Puteri's Course B, Australian Richard Swift topped the leaderboard with his final round 68, which left him with a four-day total of 272.

Amongst the top-20 players who qualified from the venue for next week's all-important Final Stage include Malaysia's Shaifubari Muda, who despite a 76 finished tied 10th and former Asian regular Gilberto Morales of Venezuela in tied 18th place.

At Palm Resort Golf and Country Club's Cempaka Course, Australian Matt Keegan earned medallist honours, carding a final round 71 for a 278 aggregate. Malaysia's M. Sasidaran survived a six-way play-off for the last five tickets to also qualify for the Finals.

A weather delayed disrupted the final round at Pulai Springs Resort, which also went into a play-off to determine the final 20th qualifier. Aussie Paul Marantz was top of the class with a 278 total after a final round 68 while Japan's Tadaaki Kimura won a three-way play-off for the final ticket to the Final Stage.

The 80 qualifiers will join 127 exempted players in next week's Finals at Palm Resort where they will battle for 40 Asian Tour cards for the 2005 season.

Amongst the casualties at the first stage include former Macau Open champion Satoshi Oide, former Tour regular Will Yanagisawa of the United States and Malaysia's 17-year-old rookie Hanafiah Jamil.

January 8, 2005