Estorial Open de Portugal

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4-0; +12.10pts  (system plays: 10-10-3)

Round 1 play (4pts):

James H. McLean to beat Jamie Little +100 @ FiveDimes  WON by 4
Very different histories for these two players, though McLean did at least come close to being a regular on this Tour this season - he only just missed the cut at the 2009 Qualifying School. He hasn't played much Tour golf outside Australia in the last couple of years, and even though he does now have full playing rights on the Challenge Tour, he is unlikely to exercise this as he has been a fully exempt member of the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour during the last eight years. Events such as this will be more important for him as he seeks a return to top-level Tour golf. For his part, Little has never progressed beyond the Challenge Tour and even lost his Card for that Tour last year, finishing 141st on the Challenge Tour Rankings. It's hard to see him making the cut on the main Tour, while McLean has shown in the past that he does have the talent to do so.

Round 2 play (4pts):

Andrew Tampion to beat Liam Bond -105 @ FiveDimes  WON by 2
A couple of unlikely suspects to be playing well this week. Between them, they have played in 22 Tour events in the last six months and made just two cuts. But the difference between them is that while Tampion has made only one cut on the main Tour, Bond has made only one cut on the Challenge Tour. Apart from the difference in Tour levels between them, there was also a marked difference in their play today. Bond's 35th place position is entirely attributable to his birdies on each of the four par-5s (he was two-over-par otherwise), whereas Tampion overall game was much better: he didn't drop a shot on any hole and he ranked 6th in driving accuracy, 10th in greens in regulation and 1st in scrambling on the day. He fully deserves his current 5th place position on the leaderboard and looks far more likely to maintain his rediscovered form in round two.

[unofficial rd2 system plays: Green tb Dredge -105 (T); Larsen tb Bothma -105 (W); Nilsson A tb Phillips -130 (W); Thornton tb Vanegas -135 (W); Bjorn tb Lima -143 (W); Bjorn tb Gustafsson -110 (W); Parry tb Ruiz -135 (W); Sjoland tb Hebert -115 (L); Delamontagne tb Coltart -125 (L); Wood tb Dredge -115 (T)]

Round 3 play (2pts):

Robert Rock to beat Robert Coles -133 @ Extrabet [available generally]  WON by 1
Backing Rock to continue his form for at least one more round. He has made the cut in 10 of his last 11 starts, finished in the top-5 in each of the last two weeks and currently lies in 6th position. By contrast, Coles has missed the cut in each of the last four weeks and over the last decade, he has a best finish of 67th in this event. Coles may be playing well so far this week, but he looks far less likely to keep up this level of play for another round.

[unofficial rd3 system plays: McGrane tb Del Moral -120 (W); Forsyth tb Goya -105 (L); Coltart tb Del Moral -140 (W); Coltart tb Vancsik +100 (L); Rock tb Canizares -120 (W); Bjorn tb Del Moral -110 (W); Coltart tb Haastrup -120 (T); Coltart tb Coles -111 (L); Gonnet tb Lima -120 (L); Bland tb Goya +100 (L)]

Round 4 play (2pts):

Darren Clarke to beat Peter Gustafsson +105 @ SkyBet  WON by 10
Two players moving in opposite directions on the leaderboard. Clarke has recovered from an opening 75 to shoot 67-68 and now lie in 25th position; Gustafson started the 3rd round in the top-10, but a 74 has seen him fall to 25th. Having his lost his Tour Card and now enduring a nomadic year playing on different Tours on sponsors invitations, this was a lost opportunity to get his career back on track ... at least until the triple-bogey at the 16th. Clarke has a 8-1-1 h2h against Gustafson in the final round and after today's score, that dominance looks set to continue.

[unofficial rd4 system plays: Johansen tb Jeppesen -111 (L); Coltart tb Haastrup +100 (L); Del Moral tb Vancsik +110 (L)]