Back to school for aspiring tour pros

In the aftermath of Sergio Garcia’s victory in the Race to Dubai-opening HSBC Champions tournament at Sheshan last week, the tour focus quickly switches to the lower end of the fortune spectrum – the final stages of the European Tour Qualifying School.

Only 156 players have made it through to the final stage, 77 holding exempt status (mostly from failing to hold on to their tour cards last season) and 79 who held their nerves to get through the second stage of qualifying last week. The conundrum week as always is held in Spain due to the more or less guaranteed weather and this year’s venue, The PGA De Catalunya in Girona, will pull no punches for the Tour hopefuls.

At only 6,866 yards it’s a course that will reward accuracy over power – rather refreshing for the modern era.

When it comes down to it, the difference one shot can make over the course of a season is truly remarkable. Try to imagine how Patrik Sjoland feels. On last year’s order of merit, Patrik holds the infamous label of finishing one place outside of the automatic qualifying places, which would have seen him retain his card and full playing rights for this year’s lucrative Race To Dubai. He finished in 119th place, an agonising 333 euros behind the next man. It was Patrik who last year, while trailing the field going into the last round of final qualifying school, produced a fantastic 68 to jump up the leaderboard and snatch the last place qualifying spot for his 2008 tour card.

Unfortunately he didn’t do that last round much justice, but I guess that is the world of professional golf for you.

The European Tour Qualifying School holds the key to riches for players to unlock, but it can also be the financial ruin for players that cannot raise the appropriate level of financial backing required to have a good run at it.

Given today’s economic situation, just how willing would you be to put your cash (currently a truly valuable commodity) behind a Tour wannabe when, statistically, only a handful of players break through in to the top flight via Q-school?

The draw of television these days is what attracts the bigger corporations (such as Jumeirah International, who sponsor Rory McIlroy) to put their money where their mouth is, but it is the small to medium businesses that the fringe players turn to, for help in funding their dream.

Will these companies be quite as willing to part with it this year? Who knows? But I will hazard a guess that it might not be quite an "easy sell" as it perhaps used to be.

One thing is for sure; there will be no lack of support for the fortunate 30 and ties from final qualifying school as ultimately they are the future of the professional game.

Good luck to all, and if you want to keep an eye on how the players are faring, log on to www.europeantour.com