GOLF/European Tour School Qualifying: Michael Hoey was not quite able to maintain his sparkling form in the first stage of the European Tour School pre-qualifying at Carden Park, in Cheshire, yesterday. A third round 74 saw the first-year professional slip back to joint second behind Australian amateur Marcus Fraser, who powered to the top of the leaderboard with a 66.
Added to his opening pair of 67s, it left him at 13-under-par and five shots ahead of half-way leader Hoey and Welshman Craig Williams.
Ireland's Gary Cullen fired a 71 to lie in joint ninth place at the same venue and be in with an excellent change to get through tomorrow's final round with Hoey.
At Five Lakes, Londoner Gary Marks continues to lead despite an horrendous start to his third round. The 38-year-old returned 71 after losing two balls off the 10th tee, his first, and running up a triple-bogey seven thanks to a birdie with the third ball.
Marks leads on 15 under par (201) by a shot from Portugal's Antonio Sobrinho, who produced the round of the day with a nine-birdie 64.
A total of 68 players will tee off in today's final round with the leading 26 and ties qualifying for the second stage. Among those who should progress is Ireland's 1999 Walker Cup player Paddy Gribben, who is joint sixth on 207 after a 69.
EUROPEAN TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL Stage One - Leading scores (Brit unless stated): at Five Lakes, Essex: 201 G Marks 63 67 71 202 A Sobrinho (Por) 69 69 64 205 J Kawalec (Swe) 66 68 71, S McCarthy 68 66 71, (x) T Wilkinson (NZ) 68 66 71 207 P Ericsson (Swe) 68 69 70, P Gribben 68 70 69, A Canete (Arg) 72 65 70, J Peltomaki (Fin) 67 71 69, L Claverie (Spa) 71 67 69, J Saari (Fin) 68 69 70 208 R Johansen (Swe) 67 71 70, H Rey (Arg) 67 71 70 Other Irish: 213 Daniel Sugrue 68 74 71, Chris Devlin 71 71 71, 217 Finbarr Madden 76 70 71
At Carden Park, Chesire: 200 M Fraser (Aus) 67 67 66 205 C Williams 68 67 70, M Hoey 63 68 70 207 M Hingley 68 71 68 208 D Leng 74 67 68, M McGuire 67 70 71, L Bond 70 69 69, M Welch 71 68 69 209 G Cullen 73 65 71, J Wade (Aus) 70 68 71 210 A Lindberg (Swe) 67 74 69, I Harrison 70 68 72, A Fraser (Aus) 71 69 70, J Cheetham 69 71 70, J Sutherland 70 70 70, R Finch 7167 72. Other Irish: 212 Colm Moriarty 68 70 74, 216 Padraig Dooley 70 74 72, 221 Graham Spring 74 71 76.
At Chart Hills, Kent: 204 S Henderson 70 69 65 206 S Bowditch (Aus) 69 73 64, S Cowle 70 70 66, M Urquhart 69 68 69 207 T Schuster (Ger) 69 68 70, D Poulter 77 61 69 208 I Steel (Mlt) 70 69 69, S Standing 75 67 66, P Sherman 72 68 68, D Gaunt (Aus) 70 71 67 209 T Tuovinen (Fin) 73 71 65, M Doyle (Aus) 72 69 68, T Karjalainen (Fin) 72 68 69 Irish: 221 Tim Rice 72 77 72, Gavin McNeill 71 78 72.
At Wynard, Durham: 200 C Monk (Ger) 65 67 68 202 M Smith 70 65 67 204 K Ekjord (Nor) 69 65 67, B Hume 67 67 70 205 S Fernandez (Arg) 68 69 68, F Montovia (Arg) 72 68 65, E Rush 70 67 68 206 S Browne 69 71 66, C Conrad-Prader (Aut) 66 71 69, C Goodfellow 68 68 70 207 S Lilly 70 69 68, P Archer 70 67 70, G Sherry 67 70 70 208 G Donnison 68 71 69, C Doak 69 69 70, B O'Neill 70 69 69, P Nilbrink (Swe) 74 64 70, A McCormick 69 73 66, J Are Larsen (Nor) 69 69 70 209 N Zitny (Aut) 69 69 71, R Fenwick 71 71 67, L Eggleston 71 69 69, D Orr 67 72 70, R Bastard 68 70 71, M Wiegele (Aut) 70 68 71 Irish: 211 Conor Mallon 68 70 73, 217 Ciaran McMonagle 76 70 71.
