Blue for a boy. Simon Thornton en route to his seven under 64 and a European Tour return. Picture © Phil Inglis. Simon Thornton dedicated his magnificent seven under par round of 64 to his new-born son after the Irishman sealed his card for The 2012 European Tour International Schedule with the best round of the crucial final day at the Apulia San Domenico Grand Final, the European Tour’s Neil Ahern and Paul Symes report.

The Newcastle player began the day right on the brink of missing out on a ticket to the elite Tour in European golf after a level par third round of 71, and the pressure was well and truly on to secure any sort of card for The European Tour.

But his star show on the final day, which gave him a tied sixth finish five shots behind winner Andrea Pavan on twelve under, meant he finsihed 12th in the final rankings, securing a category for next season on the top tier as one of the Challenge Tour’s Top-20.