In-form Scot Andrew Coltart is looking to continue his recent renaissance when he tees up in France for this week’s SAINT OMER OPEN presented by Neuflize OBC.
Coltart secured another top 30 finish last week in Portugal, a display which came on the back of an impressive performance last Monday, when the Scot, who has two European Tour titles to his name, earned a place in The Open Championship for the first time since 2002 by coming through International Final Qualifying at Sunningdale.
Another player who enjoyed a fine week in Estoril was Denmark’s Mark Haastrup, who heads to St Omer on the back of achieving his highest European Tour finish of third.
Haastrup, who drew praise from his fellow Dane and the Estoril Open de Portugal winner Thomas Björn, said: “It was amazing – I played really well, and made some really good decisions. It seems I’m a bit up and down at the minute – either I miss the cut or I finish in the top ten! But I really enjoyed the week, and hopefully I can get a bit more consistency and have another good one in St Omer.”
Of the Challenge Tour contingent, George Murray also heads into the week brimming with confidence, having secured his maiden professional title on home soil at last week’s Scottish Hydro Challenge.
The Scot, who held off Sweden’s Magnus A Carlsson by four shots in Aviemore, will now seek to build on his maiden victory as he bids to secure a European Tour card for the first time.
Murray said: “This win obviously gives me a hell of a lot of confidence, and it will be great to take that to St Omer because it is a big week for the Challenge Tour boys. I’ve picked the right time of the year to hit some good form, because the first prize in Scotland last week was one of the bigger ones of the year and now I’m straight into the Saint-Omer Open, which is like a Major to the Challenge Tour players because of the size of the prize fund. It would be great to continue the form and really push on in the Rankings – I have moved up to fourth, and if I can have a good finish this week then I can try to win the Rankings.”
Murray’s victory propelled him 41 places up the Rankings to fourth and he is now right in the mix to secure a European Tour card for next season. The dual ranking SAINT OMER OPEN presented by Neuflize OBC is effectively a Challenge Tour Major and all players know a good performance this week will go a long way to securing a place on The European Tour.
