HAS

the European Tour killed off their qualifying school? It’s usually about this time of year that 150 or so players from across the world gather in Spain in the hope of gaining a card to play on the main circuit but it wasn’t held in 2020 and it won’t be staged this season either. The tour insist no long-term decision has been made with the Covid-19 pandemic continuing to be the official explanation for not playing but don’t be surprised if it now proves a thing of the past. This year, the tour has gone to a similar model to the PGA Tour, with cards given instead to the top 20 from the reserve circuit, the Challenge Tour. I fear it will prove a death knell for the school labelled ‘the toughest test in golf’, a place where dread and neuroses stalked every shot but where stories of untold sacrifice and joy would emerge.