THE most successful season of Graeme Storm's career could be about to get even better with a place in the £2.44m HSBC World Match Play Championship a growing possibility.
Storm's fifth place finish in the Johnnie Walker Classic propelled him up into 15th in the European Order of Merit, which has almost certainly secured his place in the Seve Trophy later this month.
But if the 29-year-old can continue in his rich form in the Omega European Masters starting tomorrow in Switzerland, he could well have climbed into a position that will secure one of the exclusive 16 places at the Wentworth showpiece.
As things stand, Paul Casey, Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington, Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia are among those who look certain to take part in the 36-hole elimination match play tournament.
Storm qualifying for the event would represent a further example of the growing reputation he is building for himself.
"It would be fantastic to play in that," said Storm. "I have not had the best fortune in Switzerland in previous years but if I can improve that then there is a very good chance.
"If I'm being honest, this season has gone better than I had planned. It's been great to be able to keep switching my targets to bigger and better things as the season has gone on. I feel very much a part of things now."
Although Storm is not taking things for granted, he believes he is almost certainly going to finish in the top 15 of the European Tour come the end of October.
That in itself will be enough to be assured of his first appearance in the US Open, while he will also be at The Open for the second year in a row, this time at Royal Birkdale.
After this week's appearance in Crans-sur-Sierre, Storm will compete in the Mercedes-Benz Championship and the British Masters at The Belfry, before heading off to The Heritage in Ireland on September 27 for the Seve.
Storm is also lined up to play in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and the Portugal Masters before brining the curtain down on his season at the Volvo Masters in Valderrama at the start of November.
Delighted Darlington Golf Club duo Delphine Brady and Barbara Inman are heading for Morocco, after making progress in a top event.
The Stockton pair, who play out of the Haughton Grange clubhouse, have qualified for the final of the Ladies Moroccan Salver, run in conjunction with the Douglas Bader Foundation.
Brady and Inman, after initially winning their club qualifier, recently outpointed their rivals from the area at York's Forest of Galtres to claim a place in the ten-team final.
And having overcome the threat from Cumbria, Co. Durham, North Yorkshire and Tyne & Wear, the ladies are intent on heading for the Moroccan city of Agadir on November 19 with further success in mind.
"We are really looking forward to it and the hope is that we will go there and win, of course," said Brady, the ladies secretary and 1995 ladies captain of the Darlington club.
"There are four of us going and it should be fun.
"It was a bit of a shock to win the regionals but it was very nice to have received the bronze statuette of the lady golfer after winning."
Brady has passed her 60th birthday while her team-mate, Barbara, is 59 and the two finished fourth in the regional qualifiers 12 months ago.
After flying out to Morocco on November 19, Brady and Inman will spend five days in the North African country, with the main event taking place at the Dorint Atlantic Palace complex on November 22
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