Hairy stuff at card loss Valderrama..
VALDERRAMA will host the most nerving wracking weekend of the season. Five Major winners will tee it up at the Andalucia Masters, including current Masters champion Sergio Garcia and the man who passed him the Green Jacket, Danny Willett. However, it’s at the other end of the draw that much of the drama will unfold as players on the bubble of the Race to Dubai’s top-100 scramble to keep their cards. Careers are on the line and to say fine margins are involved is an understatement. Look at last year; Paul Dunne had to sweat it out on the final week when a missed cut in Portugal left him relying on other results going his way. At the same event, Eddie Pepperell looked certain to retain his card after an opening round 64, but he suffered a meltdown the following day and missed the cut. Graeme Storm missed a putt on the 72nd hole in Portugal to lose his playing rights by €100, only to get a stay of execution after Patrick Reed was docked points. A year later and all three of those players can reflect on a successful 2017. Dunne won the recent British Masters, Storm the South African Open and Pepperall enjoyed a very solid year after regaining his status from Q-school. At the start of the season we saw 15 players from the Challenge Tour and 27 from Tour School graduate to the main tour. But as things stand, only six Challenge Tour graduates and two from Tour School – Pepperell and Edoardo Molinari, who won in Morocco in April – will retain their rights. Okay, it’s not a level playing field because new arrivals don’t have access to the same number of events as those with full status, but that’s the nature of the sport. You’ve got to embrace the challenge. Pocketing a big win can also paper over the cracks of a poor season and big name players often rely on inclusion in the winners categories on a tournament’s entry list. Graeme Mcdowell, Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke are all going to miss out on the top-100 and in terms of year-on-year play they’ll lose their cards. But past feats ensure they’ll be top of the list next year and they’ve earned that privilege. That is the ultimate source of confidence; an innate belief that you belong, that poor golf is down to a lack of form and not ability. Those lower profile guys fighting for the their futures this week can’t boast that same air – but in golf your fortunes can change in a week. You’re dealing in the finest of lines. The likes of Dunne, Pepperell and Molinari will testify to that.