CHRIS Paisleys hopes of promotion from the Challenge Tour to the European Tour ended when he missed the cut in the final stage of Q-School at PGA Catalunya near Girona.
The Mickley golfer had been heading rapidly towards the promised land of the top 30 in the early stages of the fourth round on the Stadium Course, the more difficult of the two being used for the tournament.
He rattled off four birdies in five holes but finished the day with only one more birdie and five bogeys, a rollercoaster round which brought him a par 72.
Paisley missed the cut by three shots on a one-under total of 283, finishing in an ten-way tie for 83rd place and seven strokes behind the players in place for tour cards.
It looks as if there could be a double North East interest in next seasons Challenge Tour involving Paisley and Barnard Castles Robert Dinwiddie.
Dinwiddie has twice reached the European Tour via that route but lost his card again last month.
He looked as if he had a good chance of taking the quick way back this time when he started yesterday in a top-30 position, having broken par in each of the first three rounds.
However, after parring the first four holes, he went double bogey then bogey and had not wiped out the arrears by the time he signed for a 75.
That left him on the line of four under, the lowest 72-hole cut in the history of the Qualifying School.
Exactly 70 went through, Dinwiddie being among nine who are tied 61st.
With two rounds left, he is on four under and also four shots off winning a tour card as things stand now.
Scouser Nick Dougherty, three times a winner on the main tour, broke par for the first time with a one-under 69 on the Tour Course.
It was too little too late and he missed the cut by seven shots tied 120th.
Norways Knut Borsheim became the first player to land two hole-in-ones in the same Qualifying School Final.
Borsheim aced for the second day running, using a five-iron each time on the 205-yard 14th on the Tour Course on Monday and the 206-yard 16th on the Stadium Course. He is in a top-20 spot.
Hampshires Sam Hutsby leads the field on 16 under, two shots clear of Midlander Andy Sullivan.
Hutsby has been at the top of the leaderboard since a stunning round of 60 on day one and looks set to make a return to the European Tour after narrowly losing his card in 2010.
