European Tour places on the line

It is crunch time on the European Tour this week – not to see who wins it, but to determine who stays on it.

Agony and ecstasy will be etched on faces as the futures of a number of players are decided in Mallorca.

Some will rejoice that they have earned themselves another year on the multi-million pound circuit.

Others will feel like failures as they leave the island, knowing that their next stop is the dreaded make-or-break qualifying school.

A look back to last season serves as a reminder to those in the danger zone that one shot can mean a world of difference.

When Robert Karlsson finished 77th out of 79 at the Madrid Open – the final counting event of 2004 – little did he know what that did to Jarrod Moseley, who two days earlier had missed the halfway cut.

Karlsson was exempt for the following season and so did not have to worry, but by earning £1,023 (€1,497) he moved into the all-important 116th place on the Order of Merit ahead of Moseley – by just £9.39 (€13.74)!

The Australian had won over £100,000 (€146,316) during the year, but £10 (€14.63) more and he would have kept his card. Instead it was back to school and his career hung in the balance.

With one event to go this season Scot David Drysdale is the man in the hotseat of 116th, his lead over Frenchman Gregory Bourdy £436 (€637), with Spaniard Miguel Angel Martin a further £1,241 (€1,816) behind.

Until Sunday afternoon Bourdy was not even in the starting line-up for Mallorca, but a closing round of 65 in the Madrid Open lifted him into a tie for eighth place and that guaranteed him a place in the final event.

England’s Phillip Archer is 114th in the table, but far from safe. He looked to have responded to the pressure superbly last week as he climbed onto the leaderboard with a third round 66, but then came a closing round of 73 finished off with a double bogey six that leaves him with more work and more sweating to do.

“I am trying to keep it out of my mind, but that’s not easy,” said the 33-year-old from Warrington, who has already been through the qualifying school ordeal 10 times.

“It would be nice to have November off. I am playing well enough to contend if my putter works.”

Between him and Drysdale is Australian Terry Price, but he is currently out of action with a broken leg.

If Price falls out of the top 116 he will have to apply for a medical extension to his membership.

Scotland’s Raymond Russell, a member of Europe’s top 100 ever since he joined the circuit a decade ago, is 120th on the list and Englishman Neil Cheetham, who two weeks ago teed off with Phil Mickelson in the American Express World Championship, is 124th after failing to make the most of the opportunity he had there.

Cheetham qualified for that event off the South Africa Order of Merit – he lost a play-off for the Dunhill Championship in Johannesburg last December – but while £18,648 (€27,295) does not seem a bad return for one week’s work the 38-year-old finished 68th out of 69 for that.

Swede Jarmo Sandelin was a member of Europe’s Ryder Cup team just six years ago, but only a top-four spot this week will save him a first trip to the school for 12 years.

Sandelin had just one top-10 finish all last year and this season he has just two top-20 finishes. It does not look good, but hope springs eternal. Or, in this case, for four more days maybe.