CADDIE'S ROLE/Colin Byrne: We are nearing the time of year when the trophy holders are starting their world junket tours.

Paid trips to Japan and grand slams with money guaranteed. But while the ripe fruits of success are being picked in the bountiful orchard of success, the weekly labourers are scratching for what's left of a meagre end-of-season harvest on the European Tour.

They have had their chances all year, from as early as January, to prove themselves; some have been unlucky, others have squandered chances, while many with lesser tour cards have not had enough starts to mount a realistic campaign to prove themselves as worthy players on tour .

Anyone positioned from 110th plus on the Order of Merit is thinking about his playing rights for next year. Figures are being bandied about the tour as to what the magic number is going to be this year. Somewhere around €170,000 should finish in the top 115 and guarantee a career for at least another year.

Be under no illusions about the glamour of the $1 million first prizes on offer at the prestigious world events, such as last week in Atlanta. There are going to be plenty of players trying to scrape a few hundred extra euros together to reach that 115th place. Of course it's difficult to win a million, but it's probably more difficult to win a few hundred when you are facing the harsh reality of remaining a tour pro.

There is no doubt that that last card holder is earning considerably more money today than he was five years ago. Probably about double. That they have changed the cut after two rounds to 70 and ties, from 65, has helped those lower down the list to earn a more substantial income.

Many of the same faces go through the same anxiety at the same time every year; the stress levels don't drop, but at least the rewards are more motivating than simply breaking even, as they were five years ago in last position.

Damien McGrane has gathered €121,153, having played in 16 events this year. This leaves him in 140th position on the rankings and about €50,000 shy of the magic number. It has been a fair effort from the novice to the main tour and he is not finished yet. Having finished 38th in the Tour School last year, he has spent an uncertain debut year on the Tour.

Many of the events he played in with only last-minute notice, hardly the best preparation. He is second reserve for the Dutch Open at Hilversum this week and will definitely play in Majorca the following week. The Majorcan event has got the smallest purse of the year, as it is a combined Challenge and European Tour event. Still, there is hope.

Damien has arguably got two bites at the Tour card cherry. If he finishes well in the Balearics, he may well get a card through his ranking on the Challenge tour. He is currently 27th on the Challenge Tour, and the top 15 earn a European Tour card for next year.

It is a fickle business earning a living from hitting a golf ball. Nowhere are you constantly questioned about your ability as consistently as in four rounds of strokeplay. It is 72-hole concentration, not 71. With a top-10 finish at the Lancome, McGrane firstly made a very good cheque but also got himself into the following event in Germany with a €3 million purse. Damien shot three-under-par and spent the weekend with his young family in Wexford.

Such are the demands of European golf today. Three under and you miss the cut. The rewards are there, but they are not giving them away for average scoring.

One more putt and Damien would have made the cut. He would have had a dozen realistic chances over two days, but if you don't make them, you don't get paid.

McGrane reckons that Joey Purcell was the greatest influence on him as a junior in Headford Golf Club. He turned pro and served his apprenticeship with Joey in Headford and later in Portmarnock. The amiable Meath man has always been a dedicated and hard worker, according to his unofficial mentor Purcell.

He has always been a handy golfer with the potential to lift his game and bring it to a higher level.

Purcell's situation would not have been dissimilar back in the early 1980s when he was travelling on the European Tour not in the relative luxury of an airplane but in the confines of a mini-Cooper with David Feherty. No wonder the pro shop lured him away from that situation.

It is probably the biggest incentive to any golfer no matter what their ability, the constant nagging of optimism , "I know I can do better".

With a young family in Wexford, a flight and a two-hour drive away from Damien's Tour stop, he admits that life on the road is not easy. There must be a point most weeks when the pro shop would seem like a more viable option.

He has done the hard work, and it has been a huge learning curve this year for McGrane. He has adapted to the travel, the higher demands of the main tour course set-ups and has enjoyed having different professional caddies assist him.

Let's hope that the modest, talented and warm McGrane can raise his game to the required level over the next couple of weeks and maintain his healthy balance of modesty on a Tour increasingly inhabited by the self-obsessed.