Gary Murphy flies out to play in the Hong Kong Open today knowing that he will start next year as a fully fledged member of the European Tour. One of those he will be replacing is Ryder Cup hero Philip Walton who was among 14 former winners on Tour who failed to regain their cards for next season.
And after six gruelling days competing in the Final Qualifying School at the Doral Resort in Florida, Keith Nolan kept his nerve on the Gold Course to secure his card for the 2000 US PGA Tour.
Murphy tied third with Belgian Nicolas Vanhootegem and English teenager Justin Rose when the European Qualifying School at San Roque in southern Spain ended yesterday, but took the fifth card for the 2000 Tour because he had an inferior final round to the other two players. His final aggregate, after a closing 72, was a five under par total of 427, four strokes behind winner Scotland's Alastair Forsyth, who scored 70 for 423, two ahead of Swede Niclas Fasth, the 1996 School winner.
Nolan, a former Walker Cup player and two-time winner of the Irish amateur strokeplay, regained his ticket to the richest circuit in world golf with a closing 71 for a 12-under-par total of 408 in the 108-hole qualifying marathon which left him tied 19th at the finish.
"I had a strong mental focus," claimed Nolan after winning his card for the second time. Nolan won his card via the qualifying school in 1997 but had a miserable rookie year on the tour and was forced to play the secondary Nike Tour this year as a non-exempt member.
Nolan's only round over par came in yesterday's conclusion. The 26-year-old Bray golfer had put himself into a strong position with an opening day 63 and knew that all he had to do was avoid any disasters on the final day. Playing steady golf, that's exactly how the gameplan worked out.
With rounds of 63, 70, 70, 67, 67 and 71 Nolan was a comfortable qualifier for next year's tour although he finished seven shots behind school winner Blaine McCallister who had a closing 67 for 401, which left him two shots clear of a quintet of players.
Murphy (27) was never in danger of squandering the strong position he had created with his outstanding fifth round 70 in Sunday's near-gale, despite looking a trifle unsteady in the early stages. Had he not holed a 20-foot putt to escape with a bogey at the sixth it might have been a different tale, but he also snapped up the birdie on offer at the ninth to turn in a regulation 36, and thereafter it was merely a question of avoiding mistakes.
