Delariarte hurdles qualifier, regains Tour card

Jerome Delariarte regained his Asian Tour card by finishing joint 15th in the grueling Qualifying School final stage despite a closing three-over par 75 at the Sabah Golf and Country Club in Kota Kinabalu over the weekend.

Delariarte, a two-time amateur titlist, used solid middle rounds of 65 and 68 en route to a nine-under 279 total for a share of 15th place with eight others.

“Staying patient and hitting the fairways were the key for my game. I am quite happy with my performance here and I hope to get on the right note in the early stages of the 2008 season,” said Delariarte, who finished this year’s circuit at 109th place.

“The first half of the year was disappointing though as I did not perform as expected. But my game started getting together in the second part of the season,” said Delariarte who finished joint 11th in the Cambodian Open two weeks ago.

The 29-year-old Delariarte was actually the lone Filipino player to have retained his full playing rights on the Asian Tour as Benjie Magada, Cassius Casas, Marvin Dumandan and Jay Bayron all failed to finish among the top 40 after the four-day elims.

Dumandan shot a one-under 71 for a 286 but finished two strokes behind the cut off score of 284 in joint 61st while Magada and Casas shared 69th places with five others at 287 after a 72 and 73, respectively.

Bayron, the former national amateur champion, blew his bid with a closing 83, finishing second to last in the 108-player field which made it to the final stage after an impressive 71-70-72 rounds in the first three days.

Malaysia’s Ben Leong topped the qualifier after a closing 70 gave him an 18-under-par 270 for a three-stroke win over compatriot Steven Tan, who had a 71-273.