DRAYTON Park’s Eddie Pepperell is backing himself to earn a European Tour card after coming through the first stage of qualifying at Frilford Heath.

The 20-year-old, from Abingdon, produced a superb final round to progress from the stage one Section D contest on the Red Course.

Pepperell finished joint fourth in the four-round competition after closing with a seven-under-par 65.

Asked if he can go all the way, Pepperell said: “I don’t see any reason why not.

“I feel like I am improving all the time.

“I have got a clear view of where I am going and what I am trying to achieve.

“At the end of the day, I am playing well and if I do that I fully expect myself to at least compete and that will be good enough.”

Pepperell’s 65 was the best professional score on the course, but will not officially count as players were using preferred lies.

Indeed, amateur Todd Adcock pipped him by one shot on the same day with a 64.

“It was a good final round, which was great because the third round was a real struggle,” said Pepperell.

“I really turned it round because the third day was probably the worst I had swung it for a long time.”

Former England amateur international Pepperell carded scores of 73, 69, 77 and 65 for his four-under-par 284 total, which Adcock matched.

Dale Whitnell topped the billing at Frilford with a nine-under-par total of 279.

The Oxfordshire’s Craig Hinton, who has been named in the England amateur squad, came jointh tenth on 289 after rounds of 71, 75, 71 and 72.

But Oxford Golf Centre pro Adam Wootton, who qualified for The Open alongside Hinton, was jointh 67th and third last on 18-over-par 306.

The top 27 players at Frilford all progressed to stage two, which takes place at four venues in Spain from December 2 to 5.

Final qualifying is at the PGA Catalunya Resort from Dec-ember 10 to 15.

Pepperell will compete in the Alps Tour qualifying in Italy next month to keep himself sharp for the main event in Spain.

He said: “I will use it to create a back-up for next year and also for some competitive golf, which I won’t have played for a while.”

Frilford will host qualifying for the next two years after a successful debut, which saw the European Tour website label their greens as being in “very good condition”.