Qualifying school, they say, is golf’s equivalent of the Wild West. A school of hard knocks where good is separated from really good by four rounds, a cut, then two more rounds to determine the futures of 20 pros and ties.
The goal for Joseba Torres is simple: finish in the top 20 at the final stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School and earn a card, just like his uncle, Jose Maria Olazabal, did in 1985.
A total of 35 players out of 77 starters secured right of passage onto the Asian Tour this year, which promises to be the most lucrative in its history.
Perhaps predictably, certainly unluckily and surely understandably, any first mention of David Drysdale tends to include the fact that the Scot has never finished first in any of the 574 tournaments he has played so far on the DP World Tour.
There is a 27-year age gap separating them, but 10 Aussies will enter the Second Stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying School all seeking to take a major step towards joining the PGA Tour.
Scott Gregory introduced himself to golf fans around the world at this year’s US Open with a disastrous first-round 92 at Shinnecock Hills. But if you thought that was the last you’d hear of the young Englishman, then think again.