Drysdale has eye on Dubai after lucrative week in Spain

DAVID Drysdale can start dreaming about qualifying to play in the $10million Dubai World Championship after almost certainly earning enough money from finishing runner-up to Soren Kjeldsen at the Andalucia Open in Seville to avoid the necessity of making another nerve-shredding visit to the European Tour's qualifying school.

The Dunbar golfer has been the most consistent Scot on Tour so far this term. His latest performance was another stalwart effort which only came undone when he became wayward off the tee and misjudged a couple of errant wedge shots over the closing holes at Real Club de Golf.

"It was definitely my best result so far on the European Tour in terms of prestige and the calibre of the field," reflected the Scot. "It was certainly stronger than the tournament in Russia where I finished runner-up in 2006.

"I've said all along that my main goal this year was to avoid going back to that Tour school. I've managed to scrape through the last three times but there will come a time when that might not happen. I guess I'm pretty near getting my card now and if I stay healthy for the rest of the season then I should be fine.

"I'm looking forward to the rest of the season because I should do really well in the re-rank and that will mean getting into all the bigger tournaments.

"The original goal was to make enough money to keep my card. Now I can raise my sights and look at qualifying to play in Dubai at the end of the year. That would be fantastic."

Drysdale knew he was in a promising position to win his first Tour event after Kjeldsen hit his second shot into the water at the par-5 16th. However, the Dane, who makes his Masters debut next month, chipped and putted from 20 feet to save par before making a thrilling birdie 2 on the short 17th. The Scot, who also matched par on the 16th, fluffed a bunker shot on the par 3 and carded a costly bogey 4 when a decent putt refused to drop.

Trailing Kjeldsen by two strokes going up the last, Drysdale found a fairway bunker off the tee and dumped his second shot into the water. The back-spin on his wedge after taking a penalty drop almost drew the ball into the lake a second time. Fortunately, it held up in the long grass surrounding the green and he got up and down for perhaps the most valuable double bogey of his life.

Drysdale's 74 for 277, 11 under par, was just enough to cling onto second place on his own. It brought the reward of a substantial cheque for 111,110, the biggest prize of the East Lothian man's 14-year career, and the knowledge he can now spend the rest of the season plotting more success rather than fretting over survival.

Although, understandably, he was disappointed to come unstuck with that bogey, double-bogey finish, Drysdale found consolation in making another positive leap up the rankings in the Race to Dubai. The Scot jumped from 61st to 33rd place with earnings for 2009 of more than 220,00. This is already more than he's won in any previous season since becoming a Tour member in 2002.

"If you'd told me at the start of the week that I was going to finish second, then I would have been thrilled," said Drysdale. "I held my own for most of the round. Soren and I were level-pegging until I gifted it to him in a way. It was a great tussle. Soren was a few ahead then he made some mistakes and I got him back. It went back and forward and, when we left the 16th green, we were level.

"I didn't hit either a good tee shot on the 17th or much of a bunker shot. He holed another great putt for birdie and it was plain sailing for him after that. I hit poor tee shots on 16, 17 and 18. When you have to hit the fairways, I started missing them."

Following Callum Macaulay's encouraging second place in last week's Madeira Islands Open, it was another positive week for Scottish golf in Spain with four players from the home of golf inside the top 11. Alastair Forsyth claimed fifth spot and might have been a contender for the third victory of his career had he not found water and run up a triple-bogey 7 on the 14th.

He also missed a short birdie putt on the last which denied him a share of third place. Still, Forsyth's nine-under total of 279 was good enough for 42,400 and evidence his swing changes are starting to pay off.

Andrew Coltart was the third Scot to claim a spot in the top six thanks to a steady 70 for 280. It was his best performance of the season so far and lifted the Edinburgh-based golfer to 72nd on the money list.

Chris Doak, who played on the Tartan Tour last year and led after the first round, also finished on a high note in 11th place courtesy of a 69 for 282, one of the best performances on a cool, windy final day when scoring was much higher than in previous rounds.

SCOREBOARD

Collated final round scores & totals in the European Tour Open de Andalucia (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

274 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 68 72 62 72

277 David Drysdale 70 67 66 74

278 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 72 68 68 70, Graeme Storm 70 66 73 69

279 Alastair Forsyth 74 64 68 73

280 Marcel Siem (Ger) 68 67 73 72, Andrew Coltart 68 73 69 70, Rhys Davies 75 67 68 70

281 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 70 72 69 70, John E Morgan 70 73 69 69

282 Anders Hansen (Den) 72 70 71 69, Soren Hansen (Den) 75 69 69 69, Christopher Doak 66 73 74 69

283 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 70 67 69 77, Stephen Dodd 68 72 72 71, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 68 70 71 74, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 74 65 73 71, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 71 71 69 72, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 68 70 71 74, Thomas Levet (Fra) 70 71 70 72

284 Raul Quiros (Spa) 70 69 71 74, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 72 71 69 72, Markus Brier (Aut) 70 71 71 72, Miles Tunnicliff 70 71 71 72

285 Inder Van Weerelt (Ned) 74 70 68 73, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 69 73 68 75

286 Marcus Higley 71 71 74 70

287 Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 75 67 73 72, Ake Nilsson (Rsa) 70 70 71 76, Matthew Millar (Aus) 70 70 75 72

288 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 74 66 72 76, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 71 69 71 77, Colin Montgomerie 67 72 75 74, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 73 68 72 75

289 Peter Hanson (Swe) 72 72 74 71, Carl Suneson (Spa) 70 71 73 75, Steve Webster 73 70 75 71, Jan Are Larsen (Nor) 70 70 72 77, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 69 68 76 76, Jamie Donaldson 69 75 70 75

290 David Howell 72 70 75 73, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 69 73 75 73, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 67 69 76 78, Steven O'Hara 67 76 73 74, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 71 67 76 76, Simon Khan 72 70 73 75

291 Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 69 72 76 74, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 70 70 73 78, Nick Dougherty 72 71 72 76, Danny Willett 74 68 73 76, Bradley Dredge 70 73 76 72

292 Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 71 68 76 77, Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 71 70 75 76, Simon Wakefield 70 73 73 76

293 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 72 69 73 79

294 Anthony Wall 75 69 77 73, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 72 71 73 78, Gregory Havret (Fra) 70 74 76 74

295 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 71 70 75 79, Marco Ruiz (Par) 69 73 73 80, Callum Macaulay 74 70 78 73, Stuart Davis 73 70 79 73

296 Wil Besseling (Ned) 73 70 78 75, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 70 74 71 81, David Lynn 72 71 73 80, Seve Benson 70 74 75 77

299 Pelle Edberg (Swe) 73 69 76 81