Walton bounces back

Five years after falling off the European tour and nine years after being a Ryder Cup match-winner Philip Walton finally made it back today.

Despite failure at the tour’s qualifying school every year since he lost his card in 1999 the 42-year-old Irishman decided to give it one last go and came through the six-round ordeal with three strokes to spare at San Roque in Spain.

Walton was Europe’s hero at Oak Hill in 1995, beating Jay Haas on the final green in the deciding match after three up with three to play.

“This is worse than that – the stress is unreal,” he said after a closing 71 gave him a four over par total of 436 and made him joint 15th of the 39 players who earned cards for next season.

“It’s unbelievable out there. The Ryder Cup is a different stress – that was team stress, but this is a bloody marathon and I am a sprinter.

“This was going to be my last attempt. I would have given up golf and I have a lot of people to thank back home.

“They had faith in me. I reached a point when I thought I wouldn’t ever get back and my confidence is still not 100%, but it’s good.”

Walton believes the after-effects of that traumatic Ryder Cup experience contributed to his loss of form, but has worked hard with Bob Torrance, father of his former cup team-mate Sam, and now – at long last – has the chance to re-ignite his career.

The school was won by Swede Peter Gustafsson, whose nine under aggregate put him three ahead of England’s Simon Wakefield, on whom stablemate Lee Westwood had placed a bet on him to win at 33/1 at the start of the week.

Gustafsson, who missed a tour card by one place when Scot David Drysdale won a play-off in the final Challenge Tour event, sank a bunker shot at the last of the 108 holes to finish with a superb 68.

But the real drama was elsewhere, most notably for Scottish World Cup player Dean Robertson, who lost his card last month after a two-year battle with clinical depression.

Robertson came to the final hole needing a bogey five to make it through, but snap-hooked his drive. It was heading for a lake, but hit a tree and came down on an island.

From there he hit a five-iron short of the green and saved par to be one inside the cut-off mark of seven over.

“It was a stroke of fortune,” he said. “Things have not been too good for me in recent times, so it’s nice to have a bit of luck. I’m grateful and I’ll put it to good use in the New Year.”

Asked what his immediate plans were the former Italian Open champion commented: “To lie down. I’m absolutely done in.”