Remarkable year for Ireland’s Paul Dunne ends with European Tour card achievement

“Turning pro straight away, to skip all the mini tours and the feeder tours and to go straight to the main tour is something I always dreamed of doing”.

Scotland’s European Tour contingent in 2016 will be bereft of young blood for the second season running after eight card hopefuls came up empty-handed in the Qualifying School near Girona.

Then amateur Dunne shared the lead after three rounds of this year’s Open at St Andrews before dropping back to finish in a tie for 30th. “It was a steady rise each day”.

His fifth round was going swimmingly until a double bogey on his ninth hole, but the key to his final day fireworks came with birdie on the last hole which provided a few inner-belief he could be teeing it up alongside Rory McIlroy, Jamie Donaldson, Henrik Stenson and Co on Tour next season. “It kind of calmed me down a little bit and I just had to play steady coming in”. “The key moment and one that gave me a bit of impetus was holing a nice birdie on the final hole in round five which got me to four under par. To achieve something that I’ve been wanting to do and practicing for since February is brilliant”.

The field will swap courses for tonight’s fourth round, after which the field will be cut to the top 70 and ties for the final two rounds.

Of the nine, Jamieson, who turns 32 next week, is the youngest.

Other high-profile casualties included 2008 Ryder Cup player Soren Hansen and three-time European Tour winners Johan Edfors and Nick Dougherty, while English Walker Cup-winning duo Ashley Chesters and Jimmy Mullen also bowed out – the latter after winning so impressively at Campo de Golf El Saler in the Second Stage.

“Unfortunately, right now, I have no desire to play next year. That’s as far forward as I am looking”.