Dillon and O'Briain win top cards at PGA EuroPro Tour Q-School
Headfort’s Joe Dillon. Picture by Patrick Bolger/Getty Images, courtesy PGA in Ireland
Joe Dillon and Neil O'Briain earned Category 3 cards when they finished in the top 30 at the Final Stage of the PGA EuroPro Tour Qualifying School at Frilford Heath.
Headfort professional Dillon followed rounds of 72 and 71 by making eight birdies in a four-under 68 on the Blue Course to share 14th place on five-under par.
He finished six strokes behind joint winners Jamie Dick and Robert Burlison, who shot rounds of 64 and 69 respectively to top the leaderboard by two strokes on 11-under.
Starting at the 10th, Dillon opened with a bogey but turned in one-under as he followed birdies at the 11th, 14th and 15th with a bogey at the 18th.
However, he finished strongly, racking up birdies at the third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth before a double-bogey six at the ninth denied him a top 10 finish.
O'Briain made four birdies in six holes to race to four-under before he also double-bogeyed the ninth and bogeyed the 11th before finishing with seven pars for his 71.
All those who progressed to the Final Stage earned at least a category 14 card with golfers who played all three rounds earning a minimum category 10.
They included Naas' Conor O'Rourke, who shot a 70 to miss out on Category 3 by just one stroke on two-under par.
PGA Catalunya's Luke Donnelly tied for 49th on one-under after a disappointing 75 while Bushfoot amateur Owen Crooks tied for 77th on four-over after a 76.
The 2019 PGA EuroPro Tour season gets underway with the IFX Payments Championship at Brocket Hall from May 22-24.
