Barry Lane moved into the top three on the Staysure Tour Order of Merit following his MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar victory as he goes in search of a career first.
The Englishman, who claimed 675 ranking points, jumped from 11th place to third, only 17.3 points behind David Shacklady in second place and 360.8 points off the current Order of Merit leader Phillip Price.
Lane has been a mainstay on the Staysure Tour for ten seasons and with two events left of the 2019 campaign he is determined to reach one of his career goals and win the season-long rankings.
“I’ve never won the Order of Merit,” he said. “I’ve finished second twice and third twice, but it is still an ambition of mine to win it.
“I don’t know how far Pricey was ahead of me, but I did have a look and thought that if I win all three events then I have a chance of winning the Order of Merit. He’s played fantastic this year and Shacks has won twice so he’s challenging him, so you never know what might happen.”
The eight-time Staysure Tour champion will be aiming for a strong performance at the MCB Tour Championship – Seychelles if he is to keep his dream alive and become the latest winner of the John Jacobs Trophy.
The second tournament of the three event final series MCB Tour Championship takes place at Constance Lemuria, ahead of the season-finale at the MCB Tour Championship – Mauritius at Constance Belle Mare Plage, a happy hunting ground for Lane, who won the event in 2016.
“Mauritius is like a second home,” he said. “We absolutely love coming down to Mauritius and playing and now we have the three tournaments. I was around tenth in the Order of Merit and I wanted to try and get into the top ten, so I can get in the U.S. Senior Open next year and my victory in Madagascar might have sealed that.”
