Q-school injury blow for Browne

THE inherent difficulty of the annual end-of-season European Tour School assumed new proportions yesterday for Dubliner Stephen Browne.

Having already acquired a place on the main tour in 2006 through finishing 19th in the Challenge Tour order of merit, he decided to travel to San Roque in search of a better ranking.

It was a brave decision but Browne’s hopes went up in smoke when he had to pull out because of a neck strain after only eight holes of the first round of the 108-hole marathon.