GRAEME Storm and Kenneth Ferrie's hopes of landing strong finishes in the KLM Open ended largely in disappointment yesterday.

The North-East pair are both lying well off the pace in Holland going into today's second round and are faced with plenty of work to do if they are to boost their points in the race for the a Seve Trophy place.

Both have shown flashes of form this season and would welcome, albeit don't particularly expect, a berth in the Seve Trophy which will be held at the Wynyard Club later this year

Hartlepool lad Storm - a regular on Wynyard's Wellington Course - has spoken of his burning desire to qualify for the prestigious matchplay event from September 22 to 25.

And both he and Ferrie have played all four rounds in the recent BMW Championship and Celtic Manor Wales Open over the past two weeks, but have their work cut out to make the cut at the Hilversumsche club in Holland.

If they are to seriously boost their positions in the European Order of Merit standings of - 66th and 102nd respectively - going into this week's event then things need to improve and it was Storm who goes into today looking more likely to make the weekend.

After a disappointing start Storm made birdies at 12 and 17th to ensure he finished just one over par and placed just inside the cut in tied 49th place.

Ashington's Ferrie, meanwhile, was completely the opposite. He bogeyed 14 and 16 to end the first round two over - six shots off the lead.

The Seve Trophy offers Storm and Ashington's Ferrie a fantastic opportunity not only to play alongside the cream of European golf, but to do so in front of thousands of North-East fans starved of top class golf for several years.

Miguel Angel Jiminez looks a strong candidate to be there after bagging his sixth European Tour title in the past 18 months at the Celtic Manor Wales Open last weekend with a blistering final round 62 edging him four strokes clear of his nearest rival.

The win pushes Jimenez into the world's top 20 and cements his automatic qualification spot for Seve Ballesteros' Continental Europe side at Wynyard.

Qualification for the Seve Trophy operates on a system similar to the Ryder Cup, with players accumulating points for performance during the course of the season and the final positions to be confirmed after the Linde German Masters on September 11. Players challenging for places on the prestigious Seve Trophy teams will change as fortunes fluctuate during the Tour season.

The leading four players from the official World Golf Rankings and leading four from the European Tour Order of Merit - who haven't otherwise qualified via the world rankings - will be joined at The Wynyard Club by team captains Seve Ballesteros and Colin Montgomerie, who will each have one wild card selection for the final place to complete their ten-man teams.

* The Durham county team to face Lancashire at Hartlepool this weekend has been confirmed and is as follows:

I. Parnaby (Ramside) J. Harper (Seaton Carew) R. Riley (Eaglescliffe) T. Maddison (Castle Eden) R. Lee (Tyneside) S. Dance (Ramside) A. Bates (Blackwell Grange) J. Birkbeck (Bishop Auckland) M. Finley (South Moor) M. Curry (Brancepeth Castle) B. Ross (Heworth) G. Border (Castle Eden) reserve: S. R. Brown (Castle Eden).

* The 12 places in the Durham County Club Championship later this month have been decided after an entertaining qualifying round at Barnard Castle Golf Club.

Those to qualify for the final at Seaton Carew on June 30 at the weekend were (scores first): 226 Tyneside, 228 Barnard Castle, 229 Darlington, 230 Consett, 231 South Moor, 231 Castle Eden, 234 Dinsdale Spa, 234 Eaglescliffe, 235 Houghton le Spring, 239 Durham City, 239 Bishop Auckland and 240 Beamish Park.

* Darren Clarke has withdrawn from next week's US Open as his wife Heather continues her battle against cancer.

The Ryder Cup star has not played since withdrawing halfway through the BMW Championship at Wentworth two weeks ago after she returned to hospital.

''It is more important for me to be here with my family,'' said Clarke. ''Hopefully Heather will be out of hospital soon and I will be able to return to the game, but there are more important issues to be dealt with at the moment than swinging a golf club.''

Heather came out of intensive care on Monday and it is hoped she will be released from hospital some time next week.

Clarke is then considering a limited schedule depending, of course, on her health.

Next week's event will be the first major he has missed since 1998 and Pinehurst is the course where he had his best-ever finish in the US Open, joint tenth in 1999.

Published: 10/06/2005