ANDY BEAL is among a rare breed of European golfers who actually enjoy the Final Tour School - seen by many of his fellow players as the modern version of the Spanish Inquisition.

With around 170 golfers chasing fewer than 40 places on the European PGA Tour, there is precious little margin for error before the three-quarter cut comes after four rounds.

The 80 players who make it to the final two rounds on the Costa del Sol courses of San Roque and Sotogrande have then got to dig even deeper to complete the last, crucial stage of the exercise.

Beal, Salisbury born and bred, has done it twice in the last three years. In 1998 he didn't have to bother because he earned enough on the Volvo Tour (around £80,000) to be exempt from qualifying.

This season, though, the highs he reached in his game last year have eluded him. His earnings are less than half what they were in 1998 but, from a lowly 140th slot on the Volvo order of merit, he views the ordeal of Tour School from November 17-22 with courageous optimism.

"I actually don't mind Tour School," he smiles. "There's something about it that tends to bring the best out of me. I've been there about seven times and my last two visits have been successful. I finished up 13th the year before last.

"This has been a disappointing year after I started out with so many expectations, but I finished it quite well. I made a lot more cuts at the end of the season than I did in the middle so I'm feeling happier about by game."

Family worries forced Beal to miss some early-season events in February and he recalls: "When I found I had a bit of catching up to do in mid-season, there wasn't a lot there. I was missing a lot of cuts by just one shot but that was no consolation.

"I can't kid myself that I was playing that well. I finished top ten in both of the European Tour putting statistics for 1998, but this year I am nowhere which explains why I'm having to go back to Tour School.

"If I had played as well in the middle of the season as I am now, I probably would have made enough to earn an exemption."

Beal's best performance of the season came in the BMW Open in Munich where last year he earned the biggest pay cheque of his career with a top-six finish. His all-time best performance on Tour had come the previous March in the Madeira Open where he finished third.

Big Saints fan Beal is attached to the Bowood Club near Devises but practices a lot at the Hamptworth club in Wellow where his sponsor Mark Lawrence is a member.

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