Ireland's Philip Walton, a hero in
Europe's 1995 Ryder Cup victory over the United States, failed to
regain his PGA European Tour card today.
Another former Ryder Cup player, Steve Richardson, kept his
place on the tour, finishing 30th among the 35 players who won
cards.
Walton failed for the second straight year to win back his spot
on the tour. He needed to play his last seven holes in 1 under but
had five bogeys in a 77.
''I'll just keep battling away, but this is tough,'' he said.
''The standard is so high.''
Graeme Storm, the 1999 British Amateur champion, managed to get
his card, as did Justin Rose.
Rose, 20, finished fourth in the 1998 British Open as an amateur
and then missed 21 straight cuts after turning professional.
''I believe I'm good enough,'' he said. ''I feel I'm ready now.
This week feels like I imagine it is coming down the stretch of a
European tour event. I think you learn a lot about yourself and I'm
now a lot calmer under pressure than I have been before.''
Richardson earned his card with only one shot to spare. Halfway
through the competition, the Englishman was in 93rd place at 6
over. He had a final-round 69 to finish at 432 - even par. The
cutoff was 433.
''I'm drained - done in,'' Richardson said. ''This is like a
six-day exam, and the last round is always the toughest.''
England's Russell Claydon, winner of the BMW International two
years ago, missed out. He was 7 over on his first trip to the
school since he turned professional in 1989.
South Africa's Desvonde Botes won the six-round tournament, four
strokes ahead of former Walker Cup player Graham Rankin of
Scotland.
417 D Botes (Rsa) 68 67 72 67 70 73
421 G Rankin 74 70 67 78 67 65
422 R Coles 72 73 67 71 73 66
424 E Boult (Nzl) 74 66 70 69 72 73, N Colsaerts (Bel) 70 67 68 72 73 74
425 M Mackenzie 71 72 68 71 71 72
426 T Van der Walt (Rsa) 73 72 65 72 77 67, B Rumford (Aus) 72 75 72 68 67 72
427 T Munoz (Spa) 72 71 69 71 74 70, J Rose 74 68 73 70 72 70, G Rojas
(Arg) 71 70 69 71 74 72
428 G Storm 73 69 74 72 73 67, N Cheetham 70 70 74 72 71 71, P Hanson (Swe) 74
69 73 67 73 72
429 N Henning (Rsa) 74 71 70 70 71 73, G Houston 71 68 74 74 68 74, M Santi
(Ita) 74 68 69 71 72 75
430 S Dodd 71 67 73 74 74 71, G Havret (Fra) 70 71 70 71 76 72, C Pettersson
(Swe) 73 67 73 69 76 72, S Scahill (Nzl) 69 70 74 70 75 72, O Karlsson (Swe) 73
67 74 73 69 74, S Webster 69 67 74 73 69 78
431 K Ferrie 74 75 74 69 69 70, F Valera (Spa) 76 70 71 72 71 71, M Pilkington
70 70 77 71 71 72, M Mouland 72 73 72 71 71 72, H Otto (Rsa) 75 71 72 65 75 73,
J Hobday (Rsa) 72 72 71 70 72 74
