Hoey in for the long haul

QUALIFYING SCHOOL: With the Tramontana wind sweeping down from the Pyrenees golf was only possible yesterday in the second stage of the European Tour Qualifying School at PGA de Catalunya just south of Gerona.

The leader at the end of the day with a three under par 69, two clear of three players, was unknown former club assistant professional Steven Cowle from the Blacknest Club in Hampshire. Incredibly Cowle, who almost gave up the game 15 months ago he was so despondent, had been six under par after 12 holes.

"Then I just hung on and tried to drop as few as possible coming in," said the 28-year-old who has never won an event, amateur or professional.

Scrabo's Andrew McCormick, just back from a frustrating trip to the Far East where he was travelling reserve in the Eisenhower World Team Championship, shot a creditable level par 72 with only three seasoned professionals and Cowle ahead of him at the end of the day.

"I played well, I got off to a good start and was two under for the front nine in pretty calm conditions, but it started to get windy about the seventh hole and I dropped two shots on the back nine," said Andrew. "It's a tricky course in the wind. I got in a bit of practise at the Eisenhower but it wasn't much fun being out there and not getting to play on the team."

Asked what he thought of his chances of going all the way through to next week's finals, winning a card and turning pro. Andrew continued, "I'd love to go either way, but it's a bit too expensive for me at the moment, but maybe I could join Damien (McGrane) and Gary (Murphy) in the finals next week and you never know," he concluded, delighted with his showing among so many former tour players.

Colm Moriarty shot five over par 77, while Michael Hoey turned in a 73.

"I played very well for it. It was nearly as windy as back home," said Hoey, tongue in cheek, as the trees were bending double by this time. "It was very difficult with all the slopes on the greens and stuff. It was a shock to the system but I played nicely and I couldn't have done much better. I'm putting better which is the main thing and the game's in good shape so hopefully it's going to be a long two weeks."

Leading Scores (Brit unless stated, Irish in bold, par 71): (denotes amateur) 69 - S Cowle 71 - G Storm, M Pendaries (Fra), A Binaghi (Ita) 72 - F Roca (Spa), F Guermani (Ita), A McCormick, T Schuster (Ger) 73 - B Hume, D Shacklady, M Hoey 74 - Forest (Swe), J Kristiansson (Swe) M Knight (Swi), S Walker 75 - D Leng, S O'Hara, M Le Mesurier, J Little, P Nyman (Swe), S Young, A Hogh (Den), T Wilkinson (Nzl) 76 H Rey (Arg), J Manuel Ocejo (Spa), A Johnson (USA), J Romero (Spa), D Edlund (Swe), R Byrd (USA), J Kawalec (Swe), G Fox, M Kirk (Rsa), F Nicolas (Bel), A Renard (Den), N Ludwell. Other Scores: 77 - C Moriarty

Play at Peralada, Spain and St Cyprien, France abandoned until tomorrow due to high winds.

AWARD FOR HARRINGTON: Padraig Harrington was presented with the European Tour's stroke average award for the second consecutive year yesterday. Winners of five of the seven Reuters Performance Data categories for 2002 were announced after the Volvo Masters first round, with Harrington's award the most prized.

The 31-year-old Harrington, who heads the standings with an impressive average of 69.48, is too far ahead to be caught by second-placed Retief Goosen. The Dubliner, winner of the Dunhill Links Championship, has struck 5,350 shots in 77 rounds on the 2002 tour and the South African, who triumphed at the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, has hit 5,316 strokes in 76 rounds.

The other four winners in the 2002 Reuters Performance Data charts are Australia's Peter O'Malley (for driving accuracy), Italy's Emanuele Canonica (driving distance), New Zealander Michael Campbell (putts per greens in regulation) and Germany's Marcel Siem (putts per round).

Two further categories - greens in regulation and sand saves - will only be resolved after this week's Volvo Masters.