November 15-20
Lumine Golf Club, Tarragona, Spain
Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 6

The battle to earn European Tour playing privileges will go down to the wire with 22 players within three shots of the all-important 25th position, while Benjamin Poke posted a two under par round of 69 to retain the European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage lead at the end of the fifth day.

“I've just tried to approach every round and every day in the same way and just hit one shot at a time. A few ups and downs out there today but that is golf and there is no day that is the same, so overall, I'm really happy with today's performance.

“I was feeling the nerves a little bit at the start but once I got it going it just felt like another day out on the golf course and I was just enjoying playing golf. I had some nice playing partners and we just talked along the way. Four back-to-back birdies is always nice to get your game going as well and I managed to hole the putts over the opening few holes which gave me some good momentum.

“I hit my second shot on the ninth a little right and it managed to plug itself in the edge of the bunker so I got a little bit unlucky there but I thought ‘that's just how it is sometimes' and again I just tried to keep my eye on the next shot.

“The strategy tomorrow is just to keep doing all the same things we've been doing all week. We have a good game plan on how to approach the course and in that way circumstances don't really change. So, if we do that, then we will make a good score and we take it as it comes.”

The Dane has set the pace at Lumine Golf Club since day two and he will head into the final round atop the leaderboard on 18 under par, two strokes ahead of Finland's Sami Valimaki on 16 under and three ahead of Frenchman Adrien Saddier and India's S.S.P Chawrasia, who share third place on 15 under par.

“It's been a really good five days for me, especially today I started really well going two under on my first four holes, which let me breathe a little bit," said Valimaki. "It wasn't great to bogey the last hole, but to shoot three under today is pretty good.

“Tomorrow I just have to feel really comfortable and start again. I've been hitting the ball really well, so I'll just have to keep letting the putter make the short ones and see where it leaves me at the end of the day.”

Poke is currently nine shots inside the cut-off for a European Tour card, with the top 25 and ties earning European Tour cards following the conclusion of tomorrow's sixth and final round.

Last year's Qualifying School joint-winner Alejandro Cañizares is one of six men who share fifth place on 14 under par, a group which also includes three-time European Tour winner Grégory Havret, Englishmen Marcus Armitage and Toby Tree, Canada's Aaron Cockerill and Korean Jinho Choi.

“You feel good when you play well, especially in this kind of week," acknowledged Havret. "It's long, it's physically and mentally not easy, but that's what you have to deal with.

“After last year I still wanted to play golf and I had the opportunity to play the Challenge Tour and I think it's a great Tour. I wanted to play a full year there and try to get back to the European Tour through the Challenge Tour, instead of playing a few European Tour events and a few Challenge Tour events, I thought it was good to stick on one Tour, and I really enjoyed it, I must say.

“To be tied fifth after five rounds of a professional golf tournament is pretty good, but there are still 18 holes to go and anything can happen, so the important thing is that I keep focusing on the same things I have all season on the Challenge Tour and all week here at Q-School.”

While those near the top of the leaderboard will be looking to consolidate their position during the final round of the tournament, there are still plenty of men aiming for a last-minute breakthrough into the top 25.

Englishman Steven Tiley and Spain's Pedro Oriol both carded three under par rounds of 68 to move into a tie for 33rd place, just one stroke outside the top 25, while Ireland's Niall Kearney and Scotland's Daniel Young each posted four under par rounds of 68 to join the group on the cusp of the qualification spots.

The biggest mover of the day was five-time European Tour winner Darren Fichardt, who posted a sublime seven under par round of 64 to move from the cut-line and into a tie for 16th place, which offers the South African a great opportunity to regain his playing privileges after finishing 130th this year in the Race to Dubai.

“I needed that, big time. The first few rounds have been very frustrating. I've been playing well and simply haven't been making the putts, so it was nice to hit a few really close and have some tap-in birdies on the front nine and then just close it out on my back nine.

“I just wanted to keep giving myself the chances this morning and hope that the putts kept dropping, so I did better than that. My front nine was really tricky, it was really windy so for me to turn in five under was unbelievable really. I was just trying to be more aggressive today and pitch it closer to the hole and I found myself hitting it in really close.”

The final round will begin at 9.00am local time on Wednesday November 20, where the top 25 players and ties will earn life-changing European Tour cards for the 2020 season.