MAGNIFICENT play from tee to green on Sunday and Monday helped Evesham golfer Jeremy Robinson secure his European Tour Card for 2002, writes Mervyn Collins.

The 35-year-old missed just one green during the final 36 holes of the Qualifying School as he carded a brace of 68s to claim eighth spot in the final standings at San Roque.

"My tee to green play was as good as it has been for a long time," he declared. "I played brilliantly and really should have picked up more shots.

"I had eight three putts and didn't perform too well on the greens at all but I was ever so pleased with the way I played in last two rounds when the weather was perfect."

Robinson was always around about the cut-off point at 35th place throughout the six-round climax in Spain after rounds of 72, 71, 70 and 72 saw him easily make it into the final 36 holes.

And, it could have been even better had he not dropped three shots in the closing holes at Sotogrande last Saturday.

Robinson soon put that finish behind him the next day when birdies at five, eight and nine left him six-under for the tournament.

A fourth birdie on the par three 16th cemented a round of 68 and 14th spot on the overall 83-strong leader board.

There was a hint of a blip after a bogey five at the fourth but three successive birdies around the turn dismissed any prospect of Robinson missing out and he finished with birdies at 15 and 17 to crown a fantastic weekend.

The Evesham ace was in fact one of only a handful of players to record par or better for each of the six rounds. The others were fourth-placed Scot David Drysdale, Italian Santiago Luna, Swede Mattias Eliasson and German Erol Simsek.

Sweden's Johan Skold was a two-stroke winner after rounds of 71, 73, 67, 67, 67 and 70.

Players missing out on their Card were former Ryder Cup stars, Paul Broadhurst, Philip Walton and Steve Richardson, along with Van Phillips, Graeme Storm, Per Nyman, Andrew Sherborne and Australian Wayne Riley.

"Getting card eight means that I will be able to pick and choose my events next season," Robinson revealed.

"I will be eligible to play in pretty much everything but I will be looking for to get in around 25 tournaments."