Michael Hoey in a real fight to retain European Tour card

Of the four Irish players in the field for the British Masters at The Grove outside London this week, Michael Hoey is arguably the one with most at stake. The 37-year-old Northern Irishman – a five-time winner on the European Tour in his career – is in a real fight to retain his tour card after a horrendous run of missed cuts.

Hoey hasn’t survived a cut on the main tour since making the weekend at the Scottish Open back in July. And, at 185th in the current Race to Dubai standings, the tour veteran needs to make an impact in the British Masters and the Portugal Masters next week if he is to dramatically turn things around or else he faces a visit to tour school for the first time since 2008.

Graeme McDowell, motivated by his failure to make the Ryder Cup, and Shane Lowry will be seeking to improve their positions in the Race to Dubai while Paul McGinley is playing on a sponsor’s invite as he contemplates moving towards the Champions Tour stateside. As things stand, McDowell (57th) and Lowry (24th) are on course to make it to the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai next month but need to break into the top-15 to get into pool bonus territory come the finale in the desert.

Jose Maria Olazabal, who hasn’t played since last year’s US Masters, returns to tournament action for the first time in 18 months after battling an arthritic condition.

“I am very excited to compete again. I want to see how the body can cope with the regular competition, rhythm of practice and 18 holes. Lately, I’ve played 18 holes two days, nine holes another two days - I’ve been alternating that way.

“The two weeks at the British Masters and Portugal Masters will be a good test to see if I can stand up all day. I want to see how it goes during the two weeks, and that will help me to take a decision on whether I will keep on playing the European Tour or the senior circuit next season. We’ll see how it goes.

“The problem is due to an inflammation of the extremities of the tendons, and it’s been a long process of recovery. I hit rock bottom last December and started improving slowly from January. Although I’m feeling better, I’m still not at a 100 per cent. The pain is not so bad now, it gets a bit painful from time to time,” said Olazabal who, like McGinley, is priming up for a new career on the Champions Tour.