November 15-20
Lumine Golf Club, Tarragona, Spain
Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 5, Round 6

Benjamin Poke remained in control on day four of European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage as he expanded his lead to three shots at Lumine Golf Club.

“The conditions were a bit calmer but I still started off a bit slower, like I did yesterday. I just kept hitting fairways and greens but missed a few greens around five and six and managed to scramble in nicely, which kept the momentum going a bit.

“I got a nice birdie on eight and from then on, I kept giving myself big chances and scrambled nicely when I needed to.

“It helps playing alongside guys who were also playing well. Toby was three under, I was four under and Sami was six and it definitely helps because everybody's playing well and going through good vibes."

The Dane is in pole position with two rounds remaining after posting his fourth consecutive sub-70 round, a four under par 67 on the Lakes Course, to reach 16 under par, while his closest challengers, Korea's Jinho Choi, S.S.P. Chawrasia from India and Finland's Sami Valimaki share second place on 13 under par.

The 27-year-old has led the six-round tournament since day two and following a bogey-free fourth round, which included two birdies in his final three holes, he will now look to earn a European Tour card for the first time in his career.

"I've not given where I finish much thought, to be honest. Obviously, it's a goal for everyone but I feel like I've got nothing to lose really. I'm just going do my best and see what happens.”

Choi charged up the leaderboard with the joint low round of the day at the Lakes Course, a seven under par round of 64, as he aims to regain his European Tour playing privileges, while 21-year-old Valimaki also pulled himself into contention with a six under par under round of 65.

Chawrasia, meanwhile, continued to safely navigate his way through the six-round marathon with a four under par round of 67. The four-time European Tour winner was helped by an ace on the Lakes Course's 186-yard fourth hole, one of two hole-in-ones recorded today on the par three, with Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist also holing his tee shot en route to a 67 of his own.

A six-way chasing pack, which includes Germans Hurly Long, Nicolai von Dellingshausen and Marcel Schneider, Englishmen Toby Tree and Marcus Armitage as well as Frenchman Adrien Saddier, all share fifth place on 12 under par.

“I'm really pleased with today's round," said Armitage. "I thought it was going to be quite windy, but it turned out to be calm and presented a lot of opportunities and I played really well.

“I'm just taking it like any event, you keep chasing and you are trying to win. Obviously, you want to be in the top 25 but you also want to win the tournament and that is the goal at the start of the week and we will keep going.”

The Final Stage cut line, which is limited to the top 70 players and ties after four rounds, fell at four under par, with 77 players making it through to the last two rounds. Each player who bettered the 72-hole benchmark is guaranteed full status on the European Challenge Tour for 2020, with the top 25 players and ties earning European Tour cards after the sixth and final round.

Ewen Ferguson charged up the leaderboard on day four with an eight under par round of 64, which marked the low round of the tournament at the Hills Course and took the Scot from outside the cut line to tied 17th , inside the number for a European Tour card.

“I played well today. I played well on the first couple of days as well but it's a long week and you just have to keep plugging away. I didn't want a mistake to happen early on so I think I played a little bit too defensive in the first couple of rounds.

“Today I just seemed to attack at a lot more pins – I just thought let's just go for it.

“My dad's out watching me this week and it's quite nice to have someone you're close to just watching you and willing you to do well with the odd wee fist pump when you hole a putt.

“I'm pretty tired after a long season on the Challenge Tour with China and Mallorca in the last few weeks and I've felt quite a lot of pressure to try and get my card for quite a while now, so that's why my dad's come along to motivate me. I'm feeling pretty good; there's two more days to go and I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and see what happens at the end of it.”

The attention now turns to the Lakes Course where the 77 remaining players will contest each of the two remaining rounds.