GOLF/European Tour School: Five years after falling off the European Tour and nine years after being a Ryder Cup match-winner, Philip Walton finally made it back yesterday.
Despite failure at the tour's qualifying school every year since he lost his card in 1999, the 42-year-old Dubliner decided to give it one last go and came through the six-round ordeal with three strokes to spare at San Roque in Spain.
Walton was Europe's hero at Oak Hill in 1995, beating Jay Haas on the final green in the deciding match after being three up with three to play.
"This is worse than that - the stress is unreal," he said after a closing 71 gave him a four-over-par total of 436 and made him joint 15th of the 39 players who earned cards for next season.
"It's unbelievable out there. The Ryder Cup is a different stress - that was team stress, but this is a bloody marathon and I am a sprinter.
"This was going to be my last attempt. I would have given up golf, and I have a lot of people to thank back home.
"They had faith in me. I reached a point when I thought I wouldn't ever get back, and my confidence is still not 100 per cent , but it's good."
Stephen Browne also won his card - finishing just one behind Walton on 437 after a final round of 70. However, there was heartbreak for Michel Hoey after a final round of 68 left him just one shot outside the cut-off mark which came at seven-over-par 439.
David Higgins closed with a 74 for 443 and Colm Moriarty also shot 74 for 444.
The school was won by Swede Peter Gustafsson, whose nine under aggregate put him three ahead of England's Simon Wakefield, on whom stablemate Lee Westwood had placed a bet to win at 33 to 1 at the start of the competition.
Gustafsson, who missed a tour card by one place when Scot David Drysdale won a play-off in the final Challenge Tour event, sank a bunker shot at the last of the 108 holes to finish with a superb 68.
But the real drama was elsewhere, most notably for Scottish World Cup player Dean Robertson, who lost his card last month after a two-year battle with clinical depression.
Robertson came to the final hole needing a bogey five to make it through, but snap-hooked his drive. It was heading for a lake, but hit a tree and came down on an island.
From there he hit a five-iron short of the green and saved par to be one inside the cut-off mark.
"It was a stroke of fortune," he said. "Things have not been too good for me in recent times, so it's nice to have a bit of luck. I'm grateful, and I'll put it to good use in the New Year." (Irish in bold, British unless stated)
423 - P Gustafsson (Swe) 71 70 72 73 69 68
426 - S Wakefield 69 69 71 73 69 75
427 - F Delamontagne (Fra) 72 67 69 74 69 76
429 - F Molinari (Ita) 79 71 70 70 70 69, S Manley 73 69 71 72 72 72
432 - F Roca (Spa) 76 70 77 74 69 66, J Backstrom (Swe) 71 68 74 76 73 70, G Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 73 71 74 74 69 71, A Mednick (Swe) 77 71 72 68 69 75
433 - R Finch 80 70 73 69 73 68, P Edberg (Swe) 71 73 76 68 71 74, L Brovold (Nor) 79 61 69 77 70 77
435 - J Skold (Swe) 76 75 71 75 68 70, S Struver (Ger) 75 69 70 73 75 73
436 - S Hurd 76 73 70 72 75 70, B Mason 76 73 73 73 73 68, P Walton (Irl) 76 74 69 73 73 71, N Zitny (Aut) 74 72 75 71 70 74, J-A Larsen (Nor) 78 72 68 71 70 77
437 - T Moore (Rsa) 74 69 78 73 72 71, A Cruse (Rsa) 79 69 73 74 71 71, S Browne (Irl) 73 77 74 73 70 70, A Maestroni (Ita) 73 69 71 79 73 72, I Garbutt 74 73 73 73 72 72
438 - J Moseley (Aus) 73 78 70 73 74 70, S Little 75 73 72 77 68 73, S Little 74 70 74 74 71 75, A McLardy (Rsa) 74 74 73 72 70 75, D Robertson 74 71 72 72 73 76, G Bourdy (Fra) 78 70 68 70 73 79
439 - M Bernardini (Ita) 75 70 70 78 73 73, M Erlandsson (Swe) 72 76 73 73 72 73, B Teilleria (Fra) 72 72 73 79 72 71, M Sanders 75 72 69 82 71 70, M Blackey 77 76 68 74 71 73, H Rey (Arg) 75 69 71 75 75 74, M Jonzon (Swe) 76 71 70 73 75 74, N Cheetham 72 74 74 76 74 69, D Griffiths 72 70 70 73 79 75.
Non-Qualifiers
440 - A Bossert (Swi) 71 73 75 77 71 73, C Monasterio (Arg) 74 72 72 77 72 73, F Widmark (Swe) 74 76 74 74 68 74, B Hafthorsson (Ice) 75 69 69 80 73 74, O Whiteley 71 73 74 74 75 73, A Groom (Aus) 74 73 70 80 71 72, M Hoey (NIrl) 79 73 74 72 74 68
441 - S Davis 74 76 74 71 73 73, J Kok (Rsa) 76 76 69 77 71 72, G Baruffaldi (Ita) 73 72 74 72 74 76, A Canete (Arg) 72 74 72 77 75 71, P Streeter 76 70 75 73 71 76
442 - S Delagrange (Fra) 82 70 68 77 71 74, C de Corral (Spa) 73 74 72 75 74 74, V Phillips 76 71 73 76 76 70
443 - J M Carriles (Spa) 75 71 76 72 72 77, B Cornut (Fra) 78 68 77 74 71 75, L James 76 72 71 74 75 75, R McEvoy 74 72 74 77 72 74, D Higgins (Irl) 75 72 74 74 74 74, D Leng 76 72 70 79 74 72, D Borrego (Spa) 72 74 75 76 74 72, P Marantz (Aus) 71 74 75 75 76 72, L Bond 78 70 72 77 75 71, D Orr 76 69 73 79 68 78
444 - M Mouland 69 72 77 75 75 76, J Edfors (Swe) 80 71 71 72 74 76, C Moriarty (Irl) 75 74 77 72 72 74, K Storgaard (Den) 80 72 72 74 74 72
445 - (x) S Osborne 76 70 75 75 73 76, A Romero (Arg) 78 70 74 75 73 75, J Van Hauwe (Fra) 77 74 70 74 78 72
446 - G Paddison (Nzl) 77 73 70 74 75 77, R Kakko (Fin) 75 76 74 70 75 76
447 - N Colsaerts (Bel) 71 70 79 77 74 76
448 - J Hall 71 73 72 77 78 77, J Munoz (Spa) 74 73 76 75 75 75, P Nyman (Swe) 76 75 75 71 79 72, J Huldahl (Den) 74 72 74 75 82 71
449 - I Steel (Mal) 71 77 73 77 74 77, M Quiros (Spa) 74 75 75 74 75 76.
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