Tour veteran Walton goes back to school

At 37 and with three European Tour victories and a Ryder Cup appearance to his credit, Philip Walton is preparing for a first-ever visit to the Qualifying School. With only three events remaining, including this week's Lancome Trophy, he knows the chances of retaining his card are decidedly slim.

He is currently 169th in the Order of Merit with extremely modest earnings of only £15,342. And probably the most irritating aspect of his plight are the suggestions that he is not especially concerned about the matter.

"I desperately want to continue playing tournament golf," said Walton yesterday. "That is why I have already decided to go to the Tour School, if necessary. I have no intention of sitting back and waiting for people to do me favours, like getting invitations into tournaments next season."

Given his status as a tour veteran of 16 years standing, he would have no problem in getting invitations, certainly for one season. Either way, it is interesting to note that unlike his gifted contemporary Ronan Rafferty, he never had to go to the tour school.

After his last amateur appearance in the Shannon Scratch Cup in July 1983, Walton turned professional. His first event was the British Open at Royal Birkdale where he failed to qualify, but a breakthrough came at the Irish Open at Royal Dublin on August 11th to 14th.

With rounds of 73, 70, 70 and 71 for an aggregate of 284, he was tied 26th behind Seve Ballesteros. More importantly, a reward of £1,060 was sufficient to secure exempt status for the following year. By 1987 he had become established in the top-50 of the Order of Merit in which he gained his most elevated position of 13th in 1995, when he played in the Ryder Cup.

An indication of his current concern is that he travelled to Glasgow yesterday for a lesson from his coach, Bob Torrance, as part of a build-up to the £800,000 Lancome Trophy at St Nom la Breteche. After that, he will play the German Masters on September 30th to October 3rd and finally, the Belgacom Open three weeks later.

"I'd like to have another eight years on tour but my immediate concern is to keep my card," he went on. "Obviously a win in the last three tournaments would solve my problems, but a couple of really high finishes could also do the trick."

At the moment, it looks as if earnings of close on £65,000 will be necessary to secure a place among the Order of Merit's top 116 who will retain playing rights for the 2000 season. This means that Walton needs another £50,000 - not an unrealistic target for a player of his undoubted quality.

"I'm striking the ball really well from tee to green but I'm just not sinking the putts," he said. "And as usual in these sort of situations, I don't seem to be getting any breaks. Like for instance during the second round in Switzerland a few weeks ago."

Walton was referring to a freak incident on the 12th hole, his third. After pushing his drive towards trees on the right, close to the practice ground, he thought it prudent to hit a provisional ball. But when he and his caddie advanced up the fairway, they could find neither ball.

It later transpired that a spectator had kicked the first ball out of bounds and picked up the other one. Walton later found his original ball on the practice ground but when the matter was reported to a rules official, no relief was forthcoming in the absence of corroborative evidence. The outcome? A wretched eight on the way to a 78 and another missed cut.

In 23 events so far this year, he has missed 10 cuts. More damaging, however, is the fact that his highest finish was a share of 35th place in the Moroccan Open, for which he earned £2,450. In fact he has had only seven four-figure cheques, of which only three were in excess of £2,000.

"The old drive and ambition is still there and I'm determined to make things happen," concluded the player who won the French Open in 1990 and the Catalan Open and English Open in 1995. "I reckon I still have an awful lot to offer the game."

He will be joined in the Lancome by compatriots Paul McGinley, Des Smyth and Eamonn Darcy. Darren Clarke is taking a rest prior to next week's Ryder Cup, but Padraig Harrington, who will be joining him in the European line-up, is competing in the $1.6 BC Open in Endicott, New York, starting on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a notable development in the context of the Ryder Cup was the three-stroke victory by Hal Sutton in the Canadian Open last Sunday. He became only the fifth member of the US team to have won a tournament this season, following on the five victories of Tiger Woods, four by David Duval, Payne Stewart's triumphs in the Pebble Beach ProAm and the US Open and Jeff Maggert's win in the Andersen Consulting World Matchplay.

Dubliner Robbie Moore, who won the 1989 Lord Mayor's Cup as a five-handicap member of Howth, qualified for the tournament as a local assistant professional. But he missed the cut after rounds of 77 and 78.