Murphy needs good week to secure tour card

Gary Murphy can do himself a world of good by a decent performance in this weeks' Mallorca Classic at Pula as he attempts to retain his Tour card for next season, but the Kilkennyman - who celebrated his 34th birthday on Sunday - has been given a number of presents by absent players that could yet prove vital in him achieving that objective.

Murphy is currently ranked 118th on the Order of Merit, with the top 115 players retaining full tour cards for the 2007 season which, ironically enough, starts in three weeks' time.

He had been 123rd in the list, but a requisite for any player to retain full membership of the tour is they must play at least 11 counting events each season - and five players ahead of Murphy on the money list are not going to meet that condition, having decided not to play in Mallorca or, if qualified, for the following week's Volvo Masters at Valderrama. It means Murphy is within a whisker of retaining his card.

Australian Adam Scott, South Africa's Trevor Immelman, American Kevin Stadler, Canada's Stephen Ames and Korea's Charlie Wi are the players who have failed to meet the criteria of playing in 11 tournaments and, as a consequence, Murphy - and, admittedly, a number of other players - have benefited by moving up the money list.

Murphy, though, still has some work to do as he prepares for Mallorca, where merely surviving the midway cut could earn him sufficient money to retain his card. The players immediately behind him in the money list are also destined for the Spanish tournament and have similar objectives.

Murphy first won his tour card for the 2000 season but failed to retain it and only managed to keep it in the 2003 season when he finished a career-best 59th in the Order of Merit.

He successfully kept it in 2004 (79th) and again in 2005, when he finished in 81st position.

One of eight Irish players in action in Mallorca - along with Padraig Harrington, Peter Lawrie, Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane, Michael Hoey, David Higgins and Stephen Browne - Murphy has his fate in his own hands as he seeks to keep his full playing rights without having to resort to a visit to next month's tour final qualifying school.

The plight of other players like Higgins and, especially, Hoey and Browne is far more desperate.

Higgins, in 127th on the money list, is likely to require a top-10 finish if he is to keep his tour card while Hoey and Browne could well need to actually win the tournament to find safety.

For Lawrie, the event in Mallorca presents demands of a different kind. He is 67th in the Order of Merit heading there, but needs to break into the top 60 on the money list if he is to secure a return visit to Valderrama. The 32-year-old Dubliner finished 41st there last year, which concluded a career-best season on tour which left him 53rd on the money list.

American rookie Troy Matteson held his nerve to secure a one-shot victory at the Las Vegas Open on Sunday, his first career PGA Tour title.

Matteson fired a final round three-under 69 at the TPC Summerlin to edge out compatriot Ben Crane and Sweden's Daniel Chopra by a single stroke.