Irelands Omelia takes the lead in the Fourth Round of CanTour Qualifying School

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:17:56

KAMLOOPS, BC-Bryan Omelia of Ireland will carry the lead into Friday's fifth and final round of the Canadian Tour's Spring Qualifying School. The 27-year-old carded a tournament-low 4-under 68 at The Dunes at Kamloops Thursday and is at 9-under 279 through 72 holes, two shots in front of Australia's Michael Curtain. Current U.S. Amateur runner-up Robert Hamilton is at 3-under 285.

Chad Belbin of Kamloops, who played on the Tour last season, is the top Canadian at 2-over 290.

With cloudy skies and showers again greeting the early groups Thursday, Omelia didn't let the conditions affect him and now finds himself in the hunt to be the Q-School Medallist.

"Of course I would like to win, but the goal still is to get my card," admitted Omelia. "I'll go out and hit the best shots I can, and see what happens from there. I won't back off Friday, but at least I don't have to force the issue. Hopefully I can make a flight to Michigan (for next week's Bay Mills Open) after my round."

Paired with Hamilton and Curtain for the second consecutive day, Omelia sensed the trio was all business Thursday, which helped him keep his game in focus. "It is a lot of fun to play with those guys, you know we are all serious and there is a definite professional atmosphere. No one is messing around out there. I work on playing my own game, but you can't help but fall into a rhythm with playing partners like that."

After an emotional weekend at The Masters in which he played with the legendary Arnold Palmer in Palmer's final round at Augusta, Hamilton finds himself in B.C. looking for his first professional card. While still listed an amateur, Hamilton will turn professional if he does the expected and earns Canadian Tour privileges Friday. Should he grab his card, Hamilton would join former U.S. amateur stars Hank Kuehne, Jeff Quinney, Steve Scott and James Driscoll for the remainder of the Tour campaign.

"I know those guys pretty well, so it will be a lot of fun to go out and play with them to see if I can elevate my game," he said. "It's been tough to sit around and basically just play golf with my buddies, so it will be exciting to back into tournament mode."

" To play in The Masters was big enough- to play with Arnold Palmer is an honour, to play with him in his final round made it even more special. It was a great wind to wind up an amateur career and is something I will always remember."

Scores

Omelia, Bryan Van Nuys, CA 72-69-70-68_279 -9
Curtain, Michael Australia 70-71-69-71_281 -7
Hamilton, Robert Carmichael, CA 73-71-69-72_285 -3
Correa, Larry San Diego, CA 73-75-69-69_286 -2
Forsman, Johan Denver, CO 74-70-70-72_286 -2
Belbin, Chad Kamloops, BC 77-72-70-71_290 2
Wood, Jeff Fortuna, CA 69-76-75-70_290 2
Yamanaka, Moto Norwalk, CA 73-71-71-76_291 3
Snelling, Justin Boise, ID 74-75-73-70_292 4
Carr, Dave Sacremento, CA 71-75-78-69_293 5
Davey, Steve Tallahassee, FL 78-69-73-73_293 5
Brunson, Daniel Greenville, SC 73-72-77-72_294 6
Fisher, Jason Bakersfield, CA 77-75-74-68_294 6
Gentry, Brian Tahoe City, CA 75-73-72-74_294 6
Scaletta, Paul Richmond, VA 73-77-72-73_295 7
Stinson, Kyle Edmonton, AB 72-75-72-76_295 7
Buttar, Blair Leduc, AB 76-79-70-71_296 8
Corrigan, Mark Cornwall, PEI 72-73-79-72_296 8
Fukushima, Kent Grande Prairie, AB 72-73-80-71_296 8
Valentin, Jerome Mission Viejo, CA 73-74-76-73_296 8
Bensel, Ken Belligham, WA 74-74-77-72_297 9
Burns, Gord Toronto, ON 74-77-72-74_297 9
Bykowski, Colin Kelowna, B.C. 73-78-73-73_297 9
Nelson, Birk Philomath, OR 77-74-77-70_298 10
Petryk, Larry Smoky Lake, AB 74-73-78-73_298 10
Serna, Antonio Mexico 75-71-75-77_298 10
Gibbs, Jonathon Boise, ID 72-73-75-79_299 11
Havens, David Charlottesville, VA 78-74-70-77_299 11
Risdon, Dustin Strathmore, AB 72-77-75-75_299 11
Brown, Michael Grenelefe, FL 81-73-71-75_300 12
Goma, Shinichi Coquitlam, B.C. 75-74-80-71_300 12
Knowles, Ragan Aurora, CO 72-77-75-76_300 12
Yoshitake, Masa Victoria, B.C. 73-74-77-76_300 12
Dawson, Philip Shinyle Springs, CA 75-73-76-77_301 13
Flugstad, Brian Kenmore, WA 72-78-72-79_301 13
Jacques, Ryan Dexter, MO 74-78-71-78_301 13
Kureluk, Jamie Calgary, AB 73-75-79-74_301 13
Williams, Mike Antelope, CA 76-73-78-74_301 13
Chubb, Matthew Toronto, ON 76-78-78-70_302 14
Aga, Matt Loveland, CO 76-79-71-77_303 15
Karr, Jim Jupiter, FL 76-77-79-71_303 15
Wright, Steve Nanaimo, B.C. 81-72-76-75_304 16
Arps, Jarrod Australia 78-75-77-75_305 17
Hayashi, Nory Japan 77-75-76-77_305 17
Moore, Michael Mississauga, ON 78-77-74-76_305 17
Hong, Chang Korea 75-77-78-76_306 18
Takase, Atsushi Northridge, CA 77-78-78-73_306 18
Nitta, Daisuke Japan 75-77-80-75_307 19
Hall, Richard England 78-79-76-75_308 20
Reid, Scott Conover, NC 84-75-76-73_308 20
Bach, Ted Sundre, AB 77-80-76-79_312 24
Kubo, Shohei New Zealand 82-78-80-72_312 24
Park, Pedro New Zealand 79-77-78-78_312 24
Webb, Mike Eagle, ID 81-81-78-72_312 24
Hague, Ryan Vernon, B.C. 80-78-77-78_313 25
Yoo, Richard Korea 79-75-82-77_313 25
Hogan, Pat Indianopolis, IN 80-74-84-79_317 29
Berthiaume, Marc-Andre Montreal, QC 80-76-84-79_319 31
Douglas, Rob Stratford, ON 84-79-77-83_323 35
Michals, Jay Houston, TX 81-80-82-80_323 35
Patrick, Daryl Calgary, AB 84-82-79-78_323 35

MISSED CUT

Mignone, Mark Mission Viejo, CA 85-85-78-77_325 37
Crumb, Jeff Oliver, B.C. 84-81-87-75_327 39
Danbom, Jeff Milford, IA 86-85-84-76_331 43
Duru, Paschal Nigeria 82-83-82-84_331 43
Harding, Ty Santa Clara, CA 88-80-85-78_331 43
Douglas, Darriek Bermuda 87-88-79-79_333 45